A  SKETCH 

OF    THE 

,  JEUiatfone,  anH  Statistics, 

OP  THE 

WESTERN  WORLD, 

AND  OF  THOSE 

CHARACTERISTICS 

OF 

EUROPEAN1   POLICY 

WHICH  MOST  IMMEDIATELY  AFFECT  ITS  INTERESTS  . 

INTENDED  TO 
DEMONSTRATE  THE  NECESSITY  OF         -.'  ' 


CONFEDERATION  AND  ALLIANCE. 


Jam  fides,  et  pax,  et  honor,  pudorque 
Priscus,  et  neglecta  redire  virtus 
Audet,  apparetque  beata  plena 
Copia  cornu. 

HOR.  CARM.  SEC. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ROBERT  H.  SMALL, 

No.  165,  CHESNUT  STREET, 

1827. 


Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania,  to  wit : 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  the  eleventh  day  of  July  in  the  fifty- 
second  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  A.D.  1827, 
Robert  H.  Small  of  the  said  district  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title 
of  a  hook,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the  words  following, 
to  wit: 

"  A  sketch  of  the  politics,  relations,  and  statistics,  of  the  western  world, 
and  of  those  characteristics  of  European  policy  which  most  immediately 
affect  its  interests :  intended  to  demonstrate  the  necessity  of  a  grand  Ame 
rican  confederation  and  alliance. 

Jam  fides,  et  pax,  et  honor,  pudorque 
Priscus,  et  neglecta  redire  virtus 
Audet,  apparetque  beata  plena 
Copia  cornu. 

Hor.  Carm.  Sec." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled. 
**  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts,  and  books  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the 
times  therein  mentioned ;"  and  also  to  the  act,  entitled  "  An  act  supplemen 
tary  to  an  act,  entitled,  *  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by 
securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  pro 
prietors  of  such  copies  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,'  and  extending 
the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,' engraving,  and  etching  historical 
and  other  prints." 

D.  CALDWELL, 

Clerk  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


James  Kay,  Jan.  Printer, 

S.  E.  Corner  of  Race  8f  Sixth  Streets, 

Philadelphia. 


BANCROFT  LIBRAR^ 


T 


HE  writer  has  used  the  first  person  in  the  ensuing  pages 
when  speaking  from  himself,  and  the  offensive  monosyllable 
/  occurs  too  often.  He  has  intended  to  avoid  the  confusion 
which  would  have  been  produced  by  using  the  plural,  as  in 
most  writings;  WE.  is  almost  invariably  used  as  signifying 
the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  The  expressions,  "  I 
think"  and  "  I  believe,"  are  frequent,  because  his  first  object 
is  to  shun  every  appearance  of  dictation  or  of  peremptory 
assertion,  deeming  it  much  more  modest  as  well  as  positively 
just,  to  recognize  upon  every  occasion  the  absolute  right  that 
all  his  fellow  citizens,  and  whoever  may  read  the  production, 
have  to  form  their  own  opinions,  and  to  entertain  their  own 
sentiments,  however  antipode  to  the  positions  which  he 
advances. 

The  publication  of  the  work  has  been  retarded  by  acci 
dents  unlocked  for  and  uncontrollable  by  the  writer.  Dur 
ing  the  interval  between  the  composition  and  its  going  to 
press,  the  ponderous  engine  of  politics  has  moved  forward, 
the  world,  and  inexorable  time,  have  rolled  on  in  their  course. 
It  follows  that  some  of  the  opinions  here  laid  down  have 
been  verified,  and  others  have  apparently  been  invalidated ; 
but,  in  the  author's  view,  only  apparently,  not  really :  ac 
cording  to  his  manner  of  considering  the  subjects,  these 


seeming  deviations  from  the  general  march  of  the  events 
anticipated  have  been  only  fortuitous  aberrations,  and  have 
not  affected  the  fundamental  calculations  of  the  orbits,  in 
which  the  great  bodies  of  the  political  firmament  are  ex 
pected  to  revolve.  Therefore  the  ensuing  pages  are  given 
as  they  were  written ;  futurity  alone  can  decide  whether 
the  speculations  they  contain  are  mere  dreams,  or  cool  and 
well  digested  propositions.  The  author  considers  the  com 
motions  which  have  taken  place  in  several  of  the  South  Ame 
rican  nations,  and  the  open  war  waged  between  two  of  them, 
as  affording  the  strongest  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  his 
position,  that  the  general  confederation  of  all  America  is 
imperiously  demanded  by  the  interest  of  the  continent,  for 
sake  of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  its  inhabitants,  and  as  the 
only  sure  means  of  preserving  general  tranquillity,  by  re 
pressing  with  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  confederation 
intestine  or  international  hostilities.  Nor  does  he  suppress 
the  following  arguments  on  account  of  the  lateness  of  the 
period  at  which  they  are  issued ;  the  congress  of  Tacu- 
baya  had  not  commenced  its  sessions  at  the  latest  dates : 
and  even  although  it  should  have  terminated  infructuously, 
he  would  still  advocate  the  cause,  and  would  persevere  in 
intreating  his  own  country  to  renew  the  invitation  to  the 
other  nations  of  the  continent  to  unite  in  an  alliance  which 
appears  to  his  humble  conceptions  to  be  the  most  stupen 
dous  creation  of  human  intellect. 

Philadelphia)  June  1827. 

" 


JLNTEREST,  or  GLORY,  has  been  the  object  of  every  ra 
tional  operation  of  every  people,  since  men  first  incorporated 
themselves  into  societies ;  or  in  other  words,  since  there 
were  two  human  beings  upon  earth. — These  objects  are  in 
fact  only  one ;  because  glory  is  the  grandest  and  most  per 
fect  interest;  and  nothing  can  be  the  true  and  permanent 
interest  of  a  country  which  derogates  from  its  glory. 

If  the  arguments  in  the  following  pages  shall  demonstrate 
that  glory  allures  us  with  imperishable  wreaths  of  laurel  and 
of  oak  leaf,  and  that  interest  tempts  us  with  hoards  of  gold, 
to  adopt  the  measures  which  it  is  the  business  of  this  publi 
cation  to  advocate, — if  it  be  shewn  that  every  fundamental 
principle  which  can  actuate  the  conduct  of  a  nation,  enjoins 
upon  the  United  States  to  take  the  position  here  recommend 
ed — if  these  things  can  be  proved,  then  will  the  doctrines 
advanced  be  the  echoes  of  political  commandments. 

Can  I  hope  to  carry  conviction  in  the  arguments  accumu 
lated  by  efforts  of  my  feeble  pen'? — I  dare  not. — Truth,  how 
ever,  is  mighty  and  must  prevail.  I  believe  the  ground  taken 
is  true,  and  that  it  is  only  necessary  to  expose  the  truth,  in 
order  to  convince  an  intelligent  people.  If  I  am  wrong,  it  is 
my  great  misfortune  :  but,  entertaining  my  present  impres- 
B 


sions,  1  feel  that  I  should  fail  in  the  duty  which  every  mem 
ber  of  society  owes  to  his  country,  and  should  be  wanting 
to  myself  as  interested  equally  with  every  other  citizen  in 
the  welfare  of  our  common  mother,  if  I  did  not  endeavour  to 
open  the  eyes  of  the  community  to  what  I  consider  dictated 
by  all  the  motives  which  can  influence  a  government  or  a 
people.  Under  these  impressions  I  write,  and  for  business, 
not  style.  To  my  motives,  and  chief  of  them  to  the  love  of 
my  natal  soil,  which  impells  me  to  encounter  much  party  pre 
judice  and  great  diversity  of  opinion,  and  to  the  indulgence 
of  my  fellow  citizens,  I  trust  for  the  reception  of  this  essay, 
without  an  expectation  that  the  manner  of  executing  the  task 
will  recommend  it  to  the  public. 


CHAPTER  I. 


AN  order  to  enter  upon  our  subject  fully  prepared,  it  is 
necessary  to  take  a  view  of  the  actual  situation  of  such  parts 
of  the  world  as  are  directly  concerned  in  the  interests  and 
matters  we  are  about  to  consider,' and  of  the  probable  results 
from  existing  political  circumstances  connected  with  Ame 
rican  affairs. 

I  shall  attempt  this  in  the  following  rapid  sketch  :  pro 
testing  at  the  same  time  against  our  assumption  of  the 
smallest  right  to  interfere  in  the  concerns  of  other  nations, 
and  reciprocally  against  their  having  any  right  to  meddle  with 
ours.  The  design  of  a  GRAND  AMERICAN  CONFEDERACY 
does  not  contradict  this  principle ;  it  is  most  emphatically 
our. business,  and  moreover,  our  attention  to  it  has  been 
invited  by  the  other  nations  of  this  continent.  It  is  no  bu 
siness  of  ours  what  policy  other  nations  think  proper  to 
adopt,  provided  it  does  not  operate  upon  us;  and  still  less 


does  it  concern  us  what  domestic  arrangements  they  choose 
to  make,  or  what  forms  of  government  they  choose  to  retain. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  these  things.  No  government 
can  exist  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
people ;  and  that  majority  has  the  exclusive  right  to  decide 
upon  the  point.  It  is  in  vain  to  talk  of  military  force  keep 
ing  down  the  majority  of  a  people ;  this  is  the  pretext  of 
those  who  are  disposed  to  submit ;  the  numbers  would  be  too 
enormously  disproportionate,  if  the  people  were  to  resist 
it;  the  military  would  be  a  feather  in  the  scale,  they  never 
could  compose  the  tithe  of  the  population,  and  the  body  of 
the  soldiery  is  taken  from  the  mass  of  the  people,  only  the 
officers  being  of  the  privileged  class.  I  think  so  well  of  the 
strength  of  the  great  mass  of  the  population  in  any  country 
as  to  believe  that  the  government  could  not  exist  for  an  hour 
after  the  body  of  the  people  should  be  so  far  disgusted  with 
it  as  to  overcome  the  natural  disposition  for  quiet,  and  the 
equally  natural  indisposition  to  disturb  the  existing  order  of 
things.  Therefore  all  subsisting  governments  have  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  approbation  of  the  majority  of  those  who  recog 
nize  them,  and  on  our  own  principles  we  have  no  right  to 
interfere.  These  positions  are  so  true  that  I  challenge  all 
history  for  a  single  example  of  successful  insurrection  which 
was  not  instigated  by  a  member  or  members  of  what  is  called 
the  higher  order  of  society,  or  of  that  class  which  has 
influence  enough  to  excite  the  body  of  the  people.  I  do 
not  mean  that  the  originators  of  insurrections  have  always 
been  titled  noblemen;  but  even  Spartacus,  slave  as  he  was 
in  Rome,  is  recorded  to  have  been  a  noble  Scythian,  and 
evidently  had  high  mental  powers,  or  at  least  great  know 
ledge  of  war ;  but  I  mean  that  the  chiefs  in  civil  disturbances 
which  have  obtained  their  purposes  have  invariably  been 
men  of  talent,  of  superior  acquirements,  of  high  conside 
ration  among  the  people,  and  have,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
belonged  to  the  privileged  class,  to  which  the  people  were 
accustomed  to  look  up,  when  there  was  such  a  class  in  their 
country. 

We  claim  for  ourselves  the  right  of  deciding  upon  our 
form  of  government,  and  of  regulating  our  internal  affairs 


8 

as  we  please;  and  on  our  own  principles  again,  we  have  no 
right  to  dictate  to  other  nations  upon  these  points :  if  we 
have  the  right,  they  have  it  equally  ;  and  from  its  exercise 
would  ensue  perpetual  hostilities,  in  which  force  and  chance 
would  determine  the  party  whose  opinions  should  give  the 
law  to  the  rest.  There  is  no  exception  to  the  general  rule, 
but  the  single  case  when  the  form  of  government  or  the  dis 
sensions  among  a  neighbouring  people  affect  the  tranquil 
lity  of  a  nation;  then  the  molested  nation  has  the  same 
right  to  insist  upon  a  change,  or  to  enter  and  force  it,  that  an 
individual  has  to  force  a  neighbour  to  extinguish  a  fire  in  his 
premises  which  threatens  to  destroy  the  adjacent  property. 
It  is  not  my  intention  therefore  to  discuss  any  policy  of 
other  nations  which  does  not  directly  bear  upon  our  interests, 
or  which  they  have  not  intrusively  pressed,  officially,  or  by 
their  popular  clamour,  upon  us  for  our  adoption. 


CHAPTER  II. 


E 


•NGLAND  has  prohibited  the  slave  trade  to  her  sub 
jects,  after  having  fully  stocked  her  own  colonies,  and  thereby 
created  a  production  in  her  West  Indian  possessions,  ex 
ceeding  her  demand  for  it  so  much  that  she  is  obliged  to 
resort  to  various  expedients  to  keep  out  of  her  home  market 
any  kind  of  competition  in  the  different  articles  which  their 
climate  and  soil  afford.  But  she  is  not  contented  with  hav 
ing  prohibited  the  importation  into  her  own  colonies  after 
their  being  fully  supplied,  as  she  had  a  perfect  right  to  do; 
she  now  goes  about  canting  and  preaching  to  all  other  na 
tions,  telling  them  what  a  burning  shame  it  is  to  traffic  in 
slaves,  and  to  hold  any  human  beings  in  bondage.  This  she 
has  no  right  to  do :  she  regulated  her  own  dominions,  and 


no  body  ought  to  dispute  her  authority  there ;  but  every  one 
must  dispute  her  the  privilege  of  interfering  with  the  ar 
rangements  of  others.  She  talks  of  her  glory  being  con 
cerned  in  it.  What  has  the  rest  of  the  world  to  do  with  her 
glory  9  Besides  it  certainly  consists  at  least  as  much  with 
her  interest  as  with  her  reputation,  now  that  she  has  as  many 
slaves  as  she  can  work,  to  exhort  the  Africans,  who  do  not 
thank  her  for  her  interference,  and  who  continue  the  traffic 
in  spite  of  her  entreaties  and  of  the  force  which  she  applies 
to  repress  it,  and  to  lecture  the  governments  of  Europe  and 
America  upon  the  enormity  of  dealing  in  human  flesh  and  of 
retaining  the  slaves  they  have  in  servitude.  I  must  not  be 
misunderstood  as  advocating  that  detestable  trade ;  but  I 
insist  that  each  nation  has  a  right  to  judge  upon  it,  and  on 
all  other  subjects,  according  to  its  own  sense  of  morality,  and 
that  it  is  an  impertinence  in  any  nation  to  read  homilies  to 
the  rest :  such  homilies  come  with  a  very  bad  grace  from  Eng 
land,  the  largest  slave  holder  on  earth ;  it  savours  of  the  ridi 
culous  to  suppose  mankind  such  gulls  as  to  listen  to  her 
representations,  when  they  know  that  she  did  not  cease  to  im 
port  negroes  into  her  colonies  until  they  were  overflowing,  and 
that  she  holds  them  as  inflexibly  as  any  other  nation,  whose 
negro  slaves  by  the  bye  are  now  exactly  in  the  same  condi 
tion  as  the  bulk  of  her  own  immediate  population  was  only 
a  very  few  centuries  since,  working  for  their  masters  five  or 
six  days  in  the  week,  and  having  the  other  one  or  two  days 
for  themselves ;  with  these  differences  only,  that  the  English 
slave  was  neither  fed  nor  clothed  by  his  lord  who  possessed 
the  power  of  life  and  death  over  him,  and  exercised  it  not 
very  sparingly,  if  her  history  is  correct. 

With  all  these  reasons  for  her  taking  the  beam  out  of  her 
own  eye  before  she  meddled  with  the  motes  in  the  eyes  of 
her  neighbours,  England  has  gone  through  the  world,  her 
"saints"  threatening  present  and  future  punishment,  and  her 
statesmen  negociating  against  slavery;  she  has  induced 
some  powers  to  assent  to  her  proposition  for  search  and  for 
the  mixed  commission,  by  which  the  claims  she  sets  up  for 
searching  vessels  during  war — a  pretence  which  never  would 
be  acceded  to  by  any  nation  able  to  resist  her  force — will 


10 

be  established  directly  or  indirectly  in  peace  also,  if  they 
are  ever  sanctioned;  or  at  least  they  will  be  brought  forward 
by  her  upon  all  occasions  as  a  precedent.  She  has  not 
hesitated  to  accuse  the  United  States,  in  decent  terms  by 
her  diplomacy,  but  in  pretty  unrestrained  language  by  her 
presses,  of  a  disposition  to  oppose  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  trade. 

Now  whatever  credit  is  attached  to  national  exertions  for 
suppression  of  this  traffic  belongs  of  right  to  us;  because 
we  were  the  first  nation  which  passed  laws  interdicting  it  to 
our  citizens,  the  only  persons  whom  we  had  a  right  to  inter 
fere  with  in  the  matter,  as  her  own  subjects  were  the  only 
persons  whose  conduct  England  had  a  right  to  regulate : 
we  were  also  the  first  nation  to  declare  the  slave  trade 
piracy  in  our  citizens.  England,  taking  up  the  thing  after 
we  did,  exhibits  a  disposition,  and  has  had  some  success  in 
the  attempt,  to  push  us  out  of  our  precedence  in  so  laudable 
a  career,  to  deprive  us  of  the  reputation  attendant  upon  such 
precedence,  and  to  induce  the  world  to  consider  her  as  the 
great  champion  in  the  cause ;  in  order  to  effect  these  objects, 
she  clamours  about  it  loudly,  and  burthens  her  diplomacy 
with  expedients  for  usurping  or  for  inducing  concessions 
from  other  nations  of  utter  novelties  in  national  law,  and  of 
points  which  no  governments  can  abandon  without  relin 
quishing,  in  some  measure,  to  a  foreign  sovereignty,  their 
own  independence.  She  interferes  with  us  in  our  rightful 
claim  upon  the  commendation  of  the  world  for  commencing 
an  opposition  to  the  trade  and  for  giving  an  example,  as  well 
as  for  persevering  in  wise  and  just  measures  to  suppress  it; 
measures  equally  correct  in  themselves  and  respectful  to  the 
privileges  of  the  other  members  of  the  great  political  society 
of  the  world.  She  does  this  by  operations  indefensible  in 
themselves,  which  never  could  be  tolerated  if  they  were  not 
enveloped  in  appeals  to  the  humanity  and  the  best  feelings 
of  our  nature. 

But  what  is  her  object,  or  at  any  rate  what  will  be  the 
result  of  her  course  °l  Her  West  Indian  islands  and  her  East 
Indian  possessions  do  or  can  produce  almost  all  the  staples 
which  form  the  wealth  and  the  commercial  advantages  of 


II 

South  America  and  of  our  own  southern  states;  rice,  indigo, 
cotton,  coffee,  sugar,  dye  woods,  incorruptible  timber  for 
ornament  or  ship  building,  chocolate,  cochineal,  precious 
stones,  and  a  vast  variety  of  other  articles,  are  produced  or 
can  be  cultivated  in  those  islands  or  in  her  vast  dominions  in 
the  east,  as  well  as  in  those  countries  which  enjoy  a  similar 
climate  and  soil.  Her  own  islands,  as  we  have  before  said, 
are  fully  stocked  with  hands,  and  her  East  Indian  territories 
abound  in  population;  she  has  moved  heaven  and  earth  to 
prevent  the  other  nations  which  own  West  Indian  islands 
from  acquiring  additional  labour  of  the  only  kind  that  is 
adapted  to  the  climate;  and  they,  not  having  pursued  the 
same  plan  as  herself,  of  replenishing  the  islands  with  hands, 
will  not  be  able  to  compete  with  hers  in  raising  the  same 
productions. — By  these  means  she  infallibly  must  acquire  a 
monopoly  of  the  articles  produced  in  the  West  Indies,  all 
the  result  of  her  operations  relative  to  the  slave  trade. 

But  it  will  be  said  the  southern  part  of  North  America, 
and  all  South  America,  will  still  enter  into  competition  with 
her  in  these  articles — my  answer  is  deduced  from  what  fol 
lows. 

England  has  been  for  centuries  engaged  in  creating  ma 
nufactures  of  every  kind  in  her  bosom;  she  has  laboured 
assiduously,  and  by  dint  of  bounties,  prohibitions,  restric 
tions,  rewards,  and  penalties,  she  has  succeeded  in  creating 
capital,  knowledge,  skill,  artizans,  labourers,  machinery,  and 
productiveness,  unexampled  in  the  annals  of  history:  her 
system  was  a  model  of  wisdom  on  the  subject,  for  she  has 
elevated  all  her  manufactures  together,  giving  bounties  to 
each  as  it  was  invented  or  introduced,  witness  the  silk,  glass, 
&c.  &c. :  she  has  formed  an  agriculture  capable  of  feeding 
her  population  in  ordinary  seasons,  of  supplying  them  with 
many  materials  for  their  manufactures,  such  as  wool,  flax, 
&c.  &c.  &,c. ;  and  she  takes  from  her  own  soil  most  of  the 
metals  and  minerals  they  require,  she  takes  them  at  small 
cost  in  consequence  of  the  immense  improvement  her  sys 
tem  has  produced  in  all  sorts  of  machinery.  To  give  only 
a  single  item  of  the  enormous  power  of  production  that  she 
possesses,  her  steam  machinery  is  estimated  at  the  power  of 


12 

200,000,000  men :  other  details  are  found  in  most  books 
of  reference,  and  are  well  known  to  those  who  take  the  trou 
ble  to  read  these  pages,  or  may  be  known  with  little  trouble 
to  any  person  who  will  examine  the  subject :  general  and 
well  known  results  are  all  that  are  required  to  support  my 
positions.  It  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  England 
can  clothe  all  Europe  and  America,  and  furnish  them  with 
nearly  every  article  of  manufacture,  by  only  putting  her  pre 
sent  establishments  into  activity  With  this  capability  of 
underselling  all  nations  even  in  their  own  markets,  unless 
she  is  kept  out  of  them  by  commercial  regulations  and  du 
ties,  the  consequence  of  her  hitherto  inflexible  system,  she 
now  comes  before  the  world  with  declarations  of  the  injus 
tice  of  restraining  commerce,  with  arguments  to  prove  how 
erroneous  are  all  kinds  of  regulating  duties,  and  with  exhor 
tations  to  join  with  her  in  rendering  commerce  perfectly  free 
by  striking  off  from  it  every  shackle  and  every  impediment. 
She  also  urges  the  abolition  of  all  discriminating  duties  upon 
shipping,  while  she  has  2,542,000  tons  of  commercial  sea 
vessels,  being  nearly  double  of  the  tonnage  belonging  to  any 
other  country*. — That  is,  now  that  she  is  ripe  for  the  mea 
sure,  now  that  she  is  able  to  undersell  and  undernavigate 
(if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression)  every  body  else,  and  to 
flood  every  market  with  her  staples,  she  proposes  to  them 
to  submit  to  these  new  doctrines  and  their  consequences; 
while  they  cannot  introduce  a  hajf  dozen  articles  into  her 
ports  at  prices  which  would  allow  them  to  compete  with 
what  she  produces ;  it  being  recollected  that  a  necessary 
consequence  of  such  a  free  trade  (if  she  ever  permits  it  in  her 
own  case  for  her  domestic  consumption)  will  be  the  release 
from  excise  of  the  commodities  liable  to  be  affected.  Now 
this  is  so  barefaced  an  attempt  at  imposition,  that  it  can 
hardly  be  possible  the  rest  of  the  world  will  be  duped  by  the 
plausible  arguments  she  uses  to  persuade  people  out  of  their 
senses.  If  she  could  succeed,  she  would  be  able  to  bring 


*  See  Huskisson's  speech  of  the  12th  of  May  1826,  referring  to  official  reports 
of  the  25th  of  December  1825.  He  gives  the  number  of  sea  vessels  at  same  date 
y>s  24,174.  These  sums  do  not  include  the  military  marine. 


13 

into  every  market,  besides  her  own  manufactures,  all  the  sta 
ples  of  the  East  and  of  the  West  Indies,  at  lower  prices  than 
any  other  power  could  afford  to  supply  them,  thus  securing  to 
herself  an  absolute  monopoly  of  manufactures  and  of  every 
species  of  commerce,  carrying  trade  and  all — and  yet  there 
are  some  persons  in  the  United  States  who  advocate  our 
subscribing  to  the  new  doctrines. 

Nevertheless  there  are  some  countries,  particularly  of 
South  America,  which  abound  in  raw  materials,  and  which 
want  manufactured  articles,  not  having  yet  created  establish 
ments  to  answer  the  demand,  where  the  new  doctrines  may 
be  acceded  to  at  present:  they  will  see  their  error,  and  will 
change  their  system ;  but  nations  are  slow  in  making  such 
changes,  because  many  interests  are  involved  in  support 
ing  the  actual  state  of  things;  and  therefore  fifty  or  more 
years  may  elapse,  as  they  have  done  here,  before  the  neces 
sary  alterations  are  made:  meanwhile  other  commercial  or 
manufacturing  nations  lose  all  the  profits  of  their  commerce, 
and  England  reaps  all  the  fruits. 

If  England  can  persuade  the  South  American  states  to 
adopt  her  new  system,  she  secures  their  markets  for  her  ma 
nufactures  :  she  does  more ;  they  have  very  few  ships,  and 
on  the  Atlantic  if  not  on  the  Pacific  coast  are  essentially 
indisposed  to  maritime  operations ;  it  will  require  at  least 
another  generation  to  alter  their  temper  in  this  respect; 
she  therefore  will  secure  their  carrying  trade,  and  her  ma 
nufactures  will  purchase  their  produce.  How  will  she  stand 
then'?  We  have  shewn  that,  by  her  ex  post  facto  cant 
about  slavery,  she  is  enabled  to  afford  the  West  Indian  pro 
ductions  cheaper  than  any  other  power,  she  can  throw  into 
Europe,  or  wherever  there  is  a  demand,  unlimited  quantities 
of  colonial  produce  from  her  East  Indian  possessions;  that  she 
may  command  absolutely  the  South  American  trade,  and 
thus  she  will  be  the  factor  and  the  carrier  of  every  article  of 
the  sort,  and  will  enjoy  an  unrestricted  monopoly  of  them. 

Such  are  the  two  leading  points  of  the  present  English 
policy,  and  such  will  be  the  results  of  her  success,  if  she  is 
able  to  accomplish  her  designs.  With  these  views,  con 
ceived  in  the  matures!  reflection,  she  has  poured  out  blood 


14 

and  treasure  to  gain  an  influence  in  South  America,  and 
with  these  views  is  she  labouring  to  form  treaties  there,  be 
sieging  every  one  of  their  governments  with  her  agents,  to 
negociate  or  to  intrigue.     It  is  true  that  these  projects  will 
be  resisted,  but  I  do  not  see  how  they  are  to  be  resisted 
effectually  with  regard  to  colonial  produce,  if  England  gets 
command  of  the  South  American  market,  as  she  will  do  if 
she  is  not  met  by  the  system  which  it  is  the  object  of  these 
sheets  to  advocate,  because  it  is  a  fact,  which  is  not  worth 
while  to  conceal,  that  she  can  navigate  cheaper  than  any 
other  power.     Obsta  principiis,  is  a  maxim  that  will  en 
dure  for  ever;  if  England  is  not  resisted  in  her  first  attempts, 
the  introduction  of  her  whole  plan  can  hardly  be  prevented. 
We  have  seen  that  the  guarda  costas  of  Spain  could  not  keep 
her  manufactures  out  of  South  America  formerly,  nor  secure 
to  the  mother  country  the  monopoly  to  which  she  pretended, 
and  to  which  the  then  excellence  of  her  chief  fabrics  entitled 
her — if  any  thing  could  give  title  to  such  a  monopoly,  which 
I  am  not  going  to  concede.    We  have  seen  that  the  splendid 
and  mighty  power  of  Napoleon  in  vain  drove  English  com 
merce  and  English  productions  from  Europe;  they  returned 
by  a  thousand  indirect  means — they  insinuated  themselves 
even  into  France  by  a  thousand  obscure  filtrations.     We 
have  seen  that  marks,  and  stamps,  and  signatures,  of  our 
own  manufacturers  cannot  keep  her  goods  out  of  our  mar 
ket,  for  she  does  not  hesitate  to  counterfeit  them,  while  she 
punishes  with  death  similar  offences  against  her  own  people, 
as  if  moral  crime  was  not  the  same  everywhere.     She  gains 
access  to  all  countries  by  the  advantage  of  cheapness,  pro 
fiting  of  the  selfishness  which  induces  men  to  disregard  the 
condition  of  their  countrymen,  provided  their  own  wants  or 
luxuries  are  satisfied.  She  has  always  complained  of  the  inter 
dictions  and  domestic  monopolies  of  other  nations  as  public 
injuries,  which  she  or  any  other  foreign  nation  had  certainly 
no  right  to  complain  of,  whatever  those  liable  to  them  might 
have,  while  she  herself  has  been  the  most  rigorous  prohibiter 
and  monopolist :  she  has  not  hesitated  even  to  go  to  war  or 
to  instigate  foreign  wars,  in  order  to  force  her  productions 
into  the  markets  she  desired.     All  these  things  had  taken 


15 

place  before  she  found  herself  in  a  situation  to  pretend  to 
act  upon  her  novel  doctrines.  If  such  has  been  heretofore 
the  case,  while  no  one  disputed  the  policy  of  fostering  the 
commerce  and  manufactures  of  nations  by  protecting  duties 
and  interdictions,  what  may  we  not  expect  when  an  acute 
people  and  an  interest,  powerful  from  the  influence  of  wealth 
as  well  as  from  many  other  considerations,  now  advocate, 
with  all  the  force  of  logic,  negociation,  temptations,  and  in 
ducements,  the  adoption  of  a  system  not  more  clearly  oppo 
site  to  the  real  interest  of  the  rest  of  the  world  than  the 
course  which  she  formerly  pursued. 

It  is  not  an  objection  to  my  argument  to  say,  that  she  has 
not  yet  acted  upon  her  new  system*  with  respect  to  her  own 
dominions:  I  do  not  believe  that  she  ever  will  herself  adopt 
it  in  extenso;  she  will  always  persevere  in  her  old  plan  of 
protecting  such  of  her  manufactures,  and  such  parts  of  her 
commerce,  as  require  nursing :  but  she  argues  vehemently 
with  all  other  nations  upon  the  impropriety  of  their  pursu 
ing  the  same  course ;  and  if,  in  order  to  induce  them  to  come 
into  her  views,  she  should  offer  to  put  them  upon  a  footing 
of  perfect  equality  and  of  unrestricted  commerce  with  her 
self,  it  would  be  a  mere  deception ;  because  to  place  them 
upon  a  real  equality,  she  must  divide  with  them  equally 
her  capital,  her  mechanics,  her  mechanical  habits,  pro 
pensities,  and  information,  results  of  the  education  and  cus 
toms  of  ages ;  and  she  must  share  with  them  her  vast  ship 
ping,  her  sailors,  and  her  maritime  disposition.  This  is 
impossible ;  therefore  it  is  also  impossible  that  any  bargain 
based  upon  abolition  of  discriminating  duties  or  free  impor 
tation  can  be  otherwise  than  to  her  advantage,  and  to  the 
injury  of  every  one  else. 

Nor  are  the  consequences  of  her  plans  favourable  to  the 
happiness  of  the  human  race,  or  to  the  general  improvement  of 
mankind ;  it  tends  directly  to  drive  men  back  into  barbarism : 


*  It  is  a  new  system  in  English  politics.  Adam  Smith  was  not  an  English 
man  ;  moreover  he  was  a  philosopher,  and  unfortunately  his  theory  appeared 
a  few  centuries  too  late :  the  diverse  tempers  of  nations  or  of  their  rulers  had 
already  rendered  its  adoption  impossible,  without  deep  injury  to  the  interests  and 
welfare  of  millions ;  England  exports  such  theories,  she  does  not  use  them. 


16 

foreign  commerce  is  necessary  to  civilization,  and  manufac 
tures  are  necessary  to  the  well  being  of  a  country — without 
the  former  a  people  must  remain  stationary,  devoid  of  infor 
mation  relative  to  the  improvements  of  the  rest  of  the  world, 
and  all  experience  shews  that  a  nation  without  commerce 
sinks  into  rudeness — to  argue  about  it  is  in  vain ;  men  have 
always  done  so,  and  men  now  are  formed  of  the  same  mate 
rials  as  they  have  been  since  the  creation, — the  same  causes 
will  therefore  produce  the  same  effects.  Again,  without  ma 
nufactories  within  her  territory  a  nation  is  at  the  mercy  of  any 
government  which  chooses  to  wage  war  upon  her,  and  the 
population  may  be  reduced,  by  a  simple  blockade,  to  the 
greatest  distress  for  want  of  articles  rendered  indispensable 
by  actual  necessity  or  by  inveterate  habit,  and  even  for  want 
of  weapons  of  defence ;  the  experience  of  our  late  war  ena 
bles  us  to  speak  feelingly  upon  this  subject.  The  system  of 
England  goes  directly  toward  constituting  her  the  only  com 
mercial  power  and  the  only  manufacturer  in  the  world;  of 
course  to  reduce  mankind  to  ignorance,  impotency,  and  bar 
barism;  and  she  stands  by  with  fallacious  arguments,  with  a 
tremendous  armed  power,  marine  and  army,  sword  in  hand, 
to  enforce  conviction  and  compliance  with  her  views. 

The  actual  state  of  England  is  constituted  by  many  other 
relations,  composed  of  her  politics,  her  ambition  for  political 
and  moral  influence,  her  passions  and  caprices,  as  well  as  the 
dispositions,  friendships,  affections,  prejudices,  or  personal 
ambition  of  her  rulers :  but  the  systems,  or  rather  the  sys 
tem,  (for  that  first  alluded  to  is  only  a  cardinal  and  indispen 
sable  part  of  the  grand  whole  which  is  developed  in  the 
second,)  is  the  leading  feature  in  her  policy,  and  that  whose 
effects  upon  the  general  affairs  of  the  world  are  the  most 
important  and  the  most  durable :  as  such,  to  it  alone  I  have 
confined  my  observations ;  I  have  dwelt  upon  England  and 
English  policy  much  more  at  length  than  at  first  view  may 
be  thought  necessary,  and  more  than  will  be  required  by  the 
consideration  of  the  other  powers  which  will  appear  in  this 
preparatory  survey,  because  her  schemes  and  her  system  are 
the  most  threatening  to  our  interests,  and  the  most  extensive 
in  their  bearings  and  influence. 


17 


r'HAPTTTl?     TTT 
C/HAr  1  Hilt    111, 


HE  next  power  whose  state  I  shall  consider  is  France. 
"Beautiful  France"  is  next  to  England  in  commerce  and 
manufactures;  in  every  thing  else  that  can  make  a  nation 
rich  and  glorious  she  is  far  before  her  rival.  She  stands 
at  this  moment  renewing  her  enormous  strength,  and  in 
creasing  it  by  vast  additions,  occupied  almost  solely  in  these 
patriotic  pursuits,  and  in  reconciling  herself  to  the  rest  of 
Europe,  after  the  misfortunes  of  her  revolution,  at  which 
none  is  more  shocked  than  herself;  after  her  triumphant  and 
magnificent  career  under  the  consular  and  imperial  regimes, 
when  in  the  intoxication  of  success  she  too  much  disregard 
ed  the  pride  and  the  feelings  of  other  nations,  not  to  pro 
voke  a  general  array  against  her  of  those  who  suffered 
reluctantly  the  weight  of  her  sceptre,  which  was  of  iron 
although  gilded;  and  after  the  exhaustion  nearly  of  thirty 
years'  war,  which,  however  successful,  nevertheless  drained 
her  of  men,  and  subjected  her  to  various  internal  restrictions, 
in  spite  of  the  wisdom  which  fostered  with  parental  care 
every  species  of  industry,  and  called  forth  by  wealth,  honours, 
and  by  every  inducement  which  could  rouse  the  faculties  of 
the  mind,  all  the  talents  of  human  intellect,  in  order  to  pro 
mote  the  prosperity  of  the  French  people.  Having  expe 
rienced  the  recoil  of  her  own  artillery,  and  having  been  over 
powered,  not  ingloriously,  by  the  concentrated  force  of  a 
whole  continent,  she  has  been  obliged  during  eleven  years 
to  aim  at  conciliating  those  whom  previously  she  either  sub- 


16 

dued  or  attacked ;  she  has  been  obliged  by  every  dictate  of 
policy  and  common  sense  to  reconcile  herself  to  Europe  and 
to  the  world.  With  these  views,  while  her  manufactures  have 
gone  on  increasing,  supported  by  an  excellent  agriculture, 
prolific  in  every  means  of  enjoyment  and  wealth,  while  her 
exhausted  marine,  commercial  and  military,  is  recovering  the 
position  to  which  it  is  entitled  by  her  innumerable  staples, 
her  vast  resources,  and  her  important  station  in  the  political 
world, — while  every  domestic  advantage  has  been  sedulously 
cherished  and  every  thing  has  prospered  with  her,  she  has 
watched  the  phases  of  politics,  and  her  acute  and  skilful  ne- 
gociators  have  appeared,  openly  or  inofficially,  in  every 
bureau  where  politics  were  discussed.  France  is  pecu 
liarly  circumstanced ;  indeed  her  situation  is  a  perfect  ano 
maly  in  history.  She  is  very  rich,  very  strong  in  resources, 
her  finances  are  the  best  conditioned  in  Europe,  she  is  brave 
enough  to  do  any  thing,  she  is  pretty  well  governed,  and 
she  is  upon  good  terms  with  her  neighbours ;  and  yet  she 
is  obliged  to  resort  to  many  expedients,  and  to  observe 
the  utmost  caution  in  order  to  persuade  the  world,  and  even 
herself,  that  she  has  forgotten  the  roads  to  the  capitals  of  the 
other  members  of  the  European  family,  and  has  also  forgot 
ten  that  they  all  found  the  way  to  Paris — facts  which  neither 
they  nor  she  can  really  forget,  but  of  which,  on  all  sides,  they 
endeavour  to  conceal  their  recollection  by  excessive  civility, 
proper  and  necessary  to  all.  It  isrtherefore  a  fortunate  thing 
for  France,  as  matters  did  take  the  turn  which  we  have  wit 
nessed,  that  Napoleon  was  a  victim  upon  whom  her  offences 
against  the  rest  of  Europe  might  be  visited,  and  upon  whom 
the  animosity  of  those  whom  her  power  oppressed  might  be, 
and  has  been,  concentrated.  I  say  this  without  in  the  least 
changing  my  opinion  of  that  great  man ;  indeed  the  wish  he 
expressed  that  his  sacrifice  might  be  of  benefit  to  France  and 
reconcile  her  to  Europe,  seems  to  be  satisfied ;  without  some 
definite  object  whereupon  to  concentrate  the  feelings  of  Eu 
rope,-  she  would  have  continued  for  more  than  one  gene 
ration  to  be  as  much  hated  by  her  neighbours  as  she  was 
envied  by  them  in  the  day  of  her  ascendancy.  Her  pre- 


19 

sent  sovereign  appears  to  be  a  good  man,  and  well  advised; 
and  after  all  it  is  the  chief  merit  of  a  monarch  to  have  the 
tact  for  choosing  able  counsellors,  and  the  good  sense  to  take 
their  advice,  whether  he  be  endowed  with  great  talents  him 
self  or  not.  He  is  somewhat  bound  up  however  in  his  fo 
reign  relations,  by  the  consciousness  that  he  is  indebted,  for 
the  restoration  of  the  crown  to  his  race,  to  the  other  sove 
reigns  of  the  continent,  and  by  his  family  connections  with 
several  of  them  :  the  latter  sentiment  is  particularly  manifest 
in  his  conduct  with  regard  to  South  America;  for  it  is 
most  evident  that  nothing  can  be  more  beneficial  to  France 
in  her  manufacturing  and  commercial  relations  than  the 
liberation  of  the  cidevant  Spanish  colonies,  and  the  opening 
of  those  ports  so  long  almost  hermetically  sealed ;  most  of 
her  manufactures  are  particularly  adapted  to  the  taste  and 
inclinations  of  the  Hispano- Americans,  and  their  productions 
are  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  French  population.  In 
spite  of  these  inducements  for  her  recognition  of  their  inde 
pendence,  the  king  has  not  yet  been  able  to  take  a  step  so 
obnoxious  to  his  cousin  of  Spain ;  and  has  therefore  been 
compelled  to  pursue  an  intermediate  and  equivocal  course^ 
not  satisfactory  to  either  party,  and  which  may  possibly  ter 
minate  in  the  loss  of  nearly  all  commercial  intercourse  with 
South  America,  possibly  by  making  France  tributary  to  Eng 
land  for  the  South  American  productions,  and  thus  by  mak 
ing  her  contribute,  however  unwillingly,  to  the  advancement 
and  to  the  establishment  of  the  English  system.  This,  it 
may  be  urged,  will  be  changed  in  the  course  of  a  few  years : 
but  I  answer  (and  I  shall  have  to  repeat  and  expatiate  fur 
ther  upon  it  hereafter),  commerce  does  not  so  readily,  as 
has  been  pretended,  obey  the  lead  of  its  interest  and  seek 
the  connections  which  are  most  to  its  real  advantage ;  affec 
tion  or  inclination  go  for  a  great  deal  in  deciding  the  course 
of  commerce ;  and  when  it  has  taken  a  specific  channel, 
formed  its  credits,  acquaintances,  and  correspondences,  it  is 
diverted  from  its  accustomed  route  with  great  reluctance  and 
great  difficulty.  Therefore  when  England  shall  have  se 
cured  the  good  will  of  the  South  Americans  by  her  political 
course,  purchased  it  by  lavish  expenditure  of  money  in  va- 


20 

rious  shapes,  among  which  are  her  great  loans  to  the  govern 
ments  and  to  individuals,  fixed  her  influence  by  means  of 
the  settlement  of  numbers  of  her  subjects  in  the  mining  and 
other  establishments,  and  arranged  correspondences  which 
will  require  only  a  letter  to  supply  goods  of  any  description ; 
when  all  these  operations,  daily  going  on,  are  completed, 
France  will  find  it  next  to  an  impossibility  to  acquire  the 
footing  and  commerce  with  the  South  Americans,  which  at 
this  instant  are  perfectly  within  her  power. 

Thus  will  the  present  ostensible  policy  of  France  injure 
herself  and  promote  the  designs  of  her  great  rival.  But  if  she 
should  change  it,  and  come  forward  at  the  congress  of  Tacu- 
baya,  as  is  not  improbable,  with  a  frank  and  open  recogni 
tion  of  the  independence  of  the  southern  continent,  then, 
unless  the  United  States  shall  adopt  the  policy  which  ap 
pears  to  be  called  for  by  every  dictate  of  expediency,  France 
will  be  another  obstacle  to  our  interests. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


has  not  a  marine,  nor  enterprize,  nor  manufac 
tures,  nor  capital,  to  enter  into  the  contest  for  the  commerce 
of  South  America  with  the  two  above  mentioned  powers, 
or  with  ourselves :  she  has  also  so  bitterly  exasperated  the 
people  formerly  attached  to  her,  by  her  inexorable  policy, 
and  by  the  relentless  and  sanguinary  warfare  which  she  has 
carried  on  against  them,  that  they  are  forever  alienated 
from  her  in  feeling  as  much  as  they  are  by  their  polities.  If 
Spain  had  conducted  this  war  with  only  ordinary  humanity, 
if  she  had  even  made  war  as  England  did  upon  us  during 
our  revolutionary  contest,  though  that  was  bad  enough,  she 
would  have  regained  a  portion  of  kindly  feeling  towards  her 


21 

and  a  part  of  the  commerce  which  she  has  now  lost  forever. 
Similarity  of  language,  and  some  similarity  of  tastes  and  ha 
bits,  would  have  made  that  commerce  a  source  of  more  real 
wealth  to  her  than  all  her  monopolies,  and  her  dismes  upon 
the  precious  metals,  which  have  been  poured  into  her  for  ages 
like  water  into  the  sieves  of  the  daughters  of  Dardanus.  Eng 
land  found  this  to  be  the  case  in  respect  to  her  commerce  with 
us;  but  Spain,  when  she  has  lost  portions  of  her  dominions, 
has  lost  almost  all  connection  with  them;  thus  it  was  when 
she  lost  Holland,  when  she  lost  Portugal,  and  when  she  lost 
Flanders;  thus  also  will  it  be  when  her  contest  with  South 
America  is  determined.  That  she  will  clamour  against  the 
course  pursued  by  the  rest  of  the  world  is  very  certain; 
it  can  be  nothing  but  noise ;  she  is  too  much  prostrated,  too 
much  distracted,  and  too  miserable,  to  have  any  weight  or 
any  serious  effect  upon  the  affairs  of  other  nations;  and 
it  will  take  her  more  than  a  century  to  restore  herself  to  a 
reasonable  degree  of  internal  prosperity;  by  that  time  pas 
sion  upon  the  subject  will  be  obsolete :  she  has  every  thing 
to  restore,  even  the  agriculture  necessary  to  her  subsistence. 


CHAPTER  V. 


L  HE 


three  above  named  powers  are  all  that  are  imme 
diately  and  importantly  concerned  in  the  commercial  relations 
which  will  spring  out  of  the  new  state  of  things  in  America. 
The  other  powers  are  however  deeply  interested ;  some  of 
them,  as  Holland,  or  the  new  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands, 
will  have  extensive  commerce  with  South  America;  although 
it  will  be  secondary  at  a  long  interval  to  that  of  France, 
England,  or  the  United  States,  for  the  days  when  the  Dutch 
broom  swept  the  ocean  have  gone  by  never  to  return.  Svve- 
D 


22 

den,  Denmark,  and  Russia  will  also  have  maritime  relations 
with  the  southern  continent.  Prussia  and  Austria  have  so 
few  ports  that  their  maritime  commerce  will  be  still  lower 
in  the  scale  of  importance.  Italy,  Austrian  or  other,  so  sel 
dom  sends  her  vessels  across  the  Atlantic  that  we  may  pass 
her  in  silence.  But  all  these  nations  are  large  consumers 
of  the  staples  which  are  afforded  by  South  America,  such  as 
sugar,  coffee,  cotton,  rice,  chocolate,  dyes,  not  to  mention 
the  precious  metals,  jewels,  &c.  &c  &c.  and  furnish  consi 
derable  supplies  of  manufactures  adapted  to  that  market. 
Most  of  the  American  productions  have  been  and  will  con 
tinue  to  be  furnished  to  them  through  the  medium,  or  by  the 
carrying  trade  of  North  America,  France,  and  England; 
while  their  equivalents  will  be  transported  by  the  same 
nations,  or  will  assume  the  shape  of  credits  upon  the  ex 
changes  of  those  powers,  and  this  will  be  the  most  common 
form  of  payment  for  their  importations.  They  are  therefore 
deeply  concerned  in  preventing  any  one  power  from  mono 
polizing  the  South  American  trade. 

-u(>  n.<»if  >m-3'3i  :  :n* 


-. 

CHAPTER  VI. 


OUT 


the  four  great  empires  of  Europe  compose  the  Holy 
Alliance,  and  are  connected  with  other  smaller  powers  whose 
number  and  the  extent  of  the  connection  are  unknown  in 
this  country,  unless  to  the  executive,  if  even  it  have  full  in 
formation  on  the  subject.  This  alliance  may  view  American 
affairs  in  a  light  different  from  the  considerations  which  have 
been  heretofore  detailed.  The  antagonists  of  the  alliance 
charge  it  with  a  design  for  extending  the  principle  of  mon 
archy  to  countries  where  that  form  of  government  does  not 
exist,  and  for  strengthening  the  principle  in  those  regions 


23 

where  it  is  recognized.  With  the  latter  design  I  repeat  that 
we  have  nothing  to  do ;  it  is  exclusively  the  affair  of  those 
nations  which  are  objects  of  the  enterprize ;  the  homely  ad 
age  "  let  every  one  mind  his  own  business"  can  never  be 
better  applied  than  to  international  relations,  and  it  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated  in  this  country.  If  our  institutions  are 
undisturbed  by  other  powers,  we  have  no  right  to  meddle 
with  theirs.  But  if  the  other  design  be  really  entertained,  it 
is  a  very  different  matter ;  it  would  be  a  direct  interference 
with  our  immediate  concerns,  and  would  demand  vigorous 
repulsion.  For  myself  however,  I  do  not  look  upon  the  Holy 
Alliance  as  the  bugbear  which  it  is  generally  thought  to  be 
among  us.  The  people  of  most  of  the  European  dominions 
have  grown  old  under  the  monarchical  form  of  government, 
their  habits,  prejudices,  and  feelings  are  as  much  confirmed 
in  it  as  ours  are  in  a  republican  form  of  government ;  they 
are  as  happy  under  their  system  as  any  nation  can  be  under 
a  different  one ;  and  they  would  not  be  happy  under  ano 
ther  regime  opposed  to  their  taste  and  their  modes  of  think 
ing  :  they  have  as  good  a  right  to  decide  upon  this  matter  as 
we  have,  and  the  same  argument  which  forbids  their  inter 
ference  with  us,  also  'forbids  us  to  disturb  them — every  peo 
ple  has  a  right  to  choose  its  own  form  of  government.  If 
the  Holy  Alliance  be  a  confederation  of  kings  against  the 
privileges  of  the  people,  I  certainly  would  be  the  last  to 
justify  such  an  object;  all  I  can  say  about  it  is  that  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it,  nor  has  any  one  but  the  parties  imme 
diately  interested ;  it  is  preposterous  to  think  of  playing 
Peter  the  hermit  in  the  19th  century  and  to  go  crusading 
against  persons  or  principles  alien,  antipode,  to  us  and  ours ; 
but  if  its  object  be  only  to  prevent  wars,  by  establishing  a 
forum,  where,  by  representation  and  amicable  negociation, 
the  disputes  which  continually  arise  among  nations  may  be 
decided  without  cutting  some  thousand  throats  and  burning 
some  hundred  villages  in  order  to  determine  a  question  nine 
times  in  ten  not  worth  the  trouble  and  expense  of  a  quarrel, 
then  in  my  opinion  the  alliance  has  a  meritorious  and  phi 
lanthropic  object ;  and  I  can  not  conceive  that  a  number  of 
men  respectable  and  honourable  in  their  private  characters 


24 

would  put  their  signatures  to  so  many  public  and  solemn 
assurances,  if  they  were  a  tissue  of  falsehood,  as  they  would 
be  if  their  objects  were  different  from  those  last  stated, 
However,  transactions  or  politics,  purely  European  or  Asiatic 
or  African,  and  principles  maintained  there,  not  attempted  to 
be  disseminated  or  imposed  upon  us,  but  confined  to  the 
continents  separated  from  us  by  vast  seas,  are  nothing  to  us  ; 
they  are  nothing  to  us  as  long  as  they  do  not  trench  upon 
our  interests.  If  the  people  or  the  sovereignties  of  the  se 
veral  nations  are  wrong,  it  is  their  misfortune,  or  rather  their 
bad  luck,  for  the  mass  of  happiness  among  them  is  probably 
as  great  as  it  is  among  ourselves  ;  and  our  interference, 
either  to  persuade  them  that  they  are  fools  or  to  rise  up 
and  kill  one  another,  to  acquire  modes  of  government  and 
fashions  of  living  which  they  do  not  like  and  for  which  their 
habits,  inclinations,  and  prejudices  do  not  adapt  them, — our 
meddling  with  their  domestic  affairs,  does  not  procure  us 
their  thanks,  nor  gain  proselytes,  except  among  a  few  un 
quiet  spirits  who  have  nothing  to  lose,  but  everything  to  gain, 
by  civil  discord,  and  such  conduct  is  in  direct  contradiction 
to  the  fundamental  doctrine  and  principle  of  the  right  of  self 
government  and  of  regulating  domestic  affairs  according  to 
the  will  of  a  nation,  which  we  correctly  and  generally  main 
tain.  We  have  much  to  do  at  home;  quite  enough  to  employ 
all  our  talents  and  thoughts,  without  wasting  them  in  dog 
matizing  to  other  nations ;  when  we  have  shewn  the  thou 
sands  among  our  population  who  now  inhabit  miserable  log 
huts  how  to  lodge  themselves  comfortably  and  neatly,  and  to 
add  healthful  or  even  luxurious  articles  to  their  diet  by  em 
ploying  a  few  days  of  each  year  in  forming  gardens,  when  we 
improve  our  agricultural  habits  so  that  our  ground  will  pro 
duce  four  fold  the  crops  now  made  in  many  parts  of 
the  country,  when  we  persuade  one  third  of  the  agricul 
turists  even  to  carry  out  their  manure,  and  to  sow  grass 
seed,  and  not  to  cut  down  their  sugar  maple  trees,  when  we 
have  -created  manufactories  to  supply  all  our  wants,  when 
We  have  facilitated  the  transportation  of  the  productions  of 
different  quarters  to  supply  the  demands  or  to  be  exchanged 
for  the  superabundance  of  other  quarters,  when  we  have 


.25 

placed  the  means  of  education  within  reach  of  all  our  citi 
zens,  when  we  have  codified  and  simplified  our  laws  which 
now  threaten  with  their  commentaries  in  every  state  to  sur 
pass  in  bulk  the  three  hundred  camel  loads  which  oppressed 
the  Romans,  when  we  have  perfected  our  national  glory  and 
rendered  individual  happiness  the  lot  of  every  one  of  our  in 
habitants  by  improving  all  the  means  which  a  bountiful 
providence  has  bestowed  upon  us  in  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  and  in  a  territory  prolific  of  every  thing  that  can  con 
tribute  to  the  necessities,  comfort,  or  luxury  of  men  ;  when 
that  blessed  period  arrives,  then,  if  ever,  it  will  be  time  to  ap 
ply  to  the  schooling  of  other  nations  talents  and  attention 
which  are  now  much  better  employed  when  devoted  to  the 
service  and  interests  of  our  own  citizens. 

I  must  not  be  misunderstood  (nor  will  my  words  admit 
such  a  construction  which  is  far  from  my  thoughts)  to  mean 
to  make  myself  the  champion  of  the  Holy  Alliance  ;  if  it  re 
quires  defence,  let  those  who  are  interested  take  up  the  pen : 
my  sole  desire  is  to  convince  such  of  my  fellow  citizent  as 
may  read  these  pages  that  we  have  no  business  with  it  in  any 
of  its  relations  which  are  confined  to  Europe. 

But  we  shall  have  some  business  with  the  Holy  Alliance,  if 
it  attempts  to  extend  its  views  across  the  Atlantic ;  and  that 
precisely  upon  the  same  principles  which  lead  me  to  protest 
against  our  meddling  with  the  internal  concerns  of  Europe. 
Sound  policy  dictates  to  us  pacific  measures  of  precaution 
against  the  conception  of  such  a  design,  and  to  guard  against 
any  attempts  to  carry  it  into  effect.  This  is  the  only  aspect 
under  which  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Alliance  can  be  of  any 
consequence  to  us,  beyond  the  transitory  sensation  excited 
by  history  or  rumour,  and  instead  of  wasting  our  solicitude 
upon  the  effects  which  this  conspiracy  of  kings,  as  it  is  called 
by  some  persons  (although  by  the  bye  it  is  no  conspiracy  of 
kings  at  all)  had  upon  the  French  who  aie  better  competent 
to  judge  for  themselves  than  we  are  to  judge  for  them,  or 
upon  the  Germans  who  do  not  thank  us,  or  upon  the  Rus 
sians  who  do  not  understand  us,  or  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
terra  austral  is  incognita,  if  there  be  such  a  place ;  instead 
of  interfering  with  things  in  which  we  have  no  manner  of  in- 


26 

terest,  and  which  we  have  no  right  to  meddle  with,  it  is  to  the 
possible  direction  of  European  politics  and  ambition,  that  we 
ought  to  turn  our  attention,  and  in  so  doing  we  shall  not  only 
exercise  a  right,  but  also  perform  a  duty;  and  we  shall  not 
have  to  endure  that  calm  indifference  to  our  opinion  which 
is  provocation  for  blows,  nor  that  infernal  smile  which  is  an 
insult  worse  than  the  rape  of  Helen.  We  shall  be  upon  ground 
which  the  world  knows,  and,  what  is  of  infinitely  more  con 
sequence,  which  we  feel,  is  just  and  tenable ;  we  shall  speak 
upon  a  subject  whereupon  we  are  thoroughly  informed,  to 
those  who  will  hear  us  and  must  hear  us,  and  who  will  not 
have  it  in  their  power  to  consign  our  writings  or  sayings  to 
the  bureaus  of  the  police,  or  to  the  ocean  by  a  simple  man 
date  to  the  custom  house  officers,  before  they  reach  the  eyes 
or  ears  of  the  people ;  this  is  the  fate  of  speculations  upon 
the  internal  policy  or  the  mutual  treaties  of  the  European  go 
vernments,  in  the  tirades  of  some  of  our  politicians,  which  only 
offend  the  ruling  authorities,  whose  measures  are  opposed. 
By  expressing  our  sentiments  on  every  possible  interposi 
tion  of  Europe  in  relation  to  the  affairs  of  America,  we 
should  treat  upon  a  subject  where  our  opinions  would  be 
supported  by  our  power  to  enforce  them,  and  wherein  no 
thing  can  be  done  without  our  concurrence  or  without  our 
having  the  means  of  resistance  in  our  own  hands.  I  have  said 
any  possible  interposition,  but  in  polities  all  things  which 
are  possible  are  probable ;  we  should  therefore  act,  not  hos- 
tilely,  but  firmly  and  decidedly,  as  if  the  confederation  of 
European  sovereigns  had  an  inclination  to  take  part  in  the 
concerns  of  the  two  Americas ;  an  inclination  which  our  ex 
perience  teaches  us  to  regard  as  equally  probable  and  autho 
rized  by  precedent,  for  France,  Spain,  Holland,  and  Prussia 
took  part  either  directly  or  indirectly  in  our  revolutionary 
contest  with  Great  Britain  ;  Russia  and  France  in  our  late 
war  with  the  same  power ;  Great  Britain  by  covert  measures, 
or  at  least  by  wilfully  shutting  the  Argus  eyes  of  her  go 
vernment  to  the  supplies  of  men,  arms,  and  money  for  the 
South  "American  war  with  Spain ;  Austria  and  England  in  the 
affairs  of  Brazil  with  Portugal ;  and  the  presence  of  several 
agents  declared  or  incognito  from  European  powers  at  the 


27 

place  of  meeting  of  the  congress  of  Panama  wore  the  same 
aspect.  We  have  then  great  reason  to  conclude,  indepen 
dently  of  the  vivid  interest  manifested  by  the  journalists  and 
other  writers  in  Europe,  that  all  the  movements  of  America 
are  regarded  there  with  a  deep  solicitude,  if  no  measures 
have  been  adopted  with  the  view  of  influencing  those  move 
ments,  an  exception  which  we  are  hardly  at  liberty  to  make 
since  England,  at  least,  has  done  much  in  the  matter ;  it 
would  be  a  political  absurdity  to  think  otherwise,  when  un 
der  the  eyes  of  so  watchful  a  government  legions,  brigades, 
and  smaller  corps  have  been  levied,  and  have  sailed  for  South 
America  completely  accoutred  for  the  field ;  when  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  appointments  of  the 
patriot  troops  have  been  supplied  from  the  English  work 
shops  ;  and  when  millions  upon  millions  have  been  borrowed 
from  the  capitalists  by  agents  residing  within  a  few  squares 
of  her  ministers,  while  the  stock  thus  created  has  been  an 
object  of  speculation  openly  in  her  exchange. 

Is  England  a  member  of  the  Holy  Alliance  *?  no  man  in  Ame 
rica  can  give  a  positive  answer  to  this  question.  The  famous 
declaration  of  her  sovereign  "  shyed"  it;  and  I  must  say  that 
the  impression  that  declaration  made  upon  my  mind  at  the 
instant  I  read  it,  an  impression  not  impaired  but  rather 
augmented  by  every  dictum  of  the  ministry  and  by  her  whole 
course  of  conduct  since  that  speech,  was,  and  is,  that  Eng 
land  is  actually  a  party  to  the  alliance  sub  modo — with  some 
qualifications  or  restrictions.  Some  of  her  most  able  and 
confidential  diplomatists  have  certainly  been  present  at  every 
congress  of  the  powers  who  are  avowedly  engaged  in  the 
alliance.  It  is  true  they  might  have  been  present  in  order  to 
take  care  that  the  interests  of  their  country  did  not  suffer, 
and  that  immediate  information  might  be  obtained  of  all 
things  that  passed;  but  things  did  pass  which  were  not  in 
direct  accordance  with  her  interests ;  the  determination 
respecting  the  Spanish  affairs,  for  example,  when  France 
was  authorized  by  the  congress  of  Verona  to  put  down  the 
disturbances  between  Ferdinand  and  the  constitutionalists. 
The  direct  interest  of  England  in  this  instance  was  that 
the  contest  should  continue ;  because  she  would  have  had 


28 

the  supplying  of  both  sides  with  arms  and  clothing,  accord 
ing  to  her  usual  practice — a  practice  so  inveterate  that  her 
mechanics  supplied  clothing  for  the  troops  of  Napoleon  in 
his  conflict  with  herself*.  But,  asks  a  partizan  of  England, 
is  no  confidence  to  be  placed  in  her  declarations,  and  her 
disposition  to  support  the  cause  of  limited  monarchy  and  a 
participation  of  the  body  of  the  people  in  the  government  *? 
— To  this  I  answer  decidedly,  JVO — I  place  no  faith  in  the 
verbiage  of  England  on  this  subject.  When  has  she  sup 
ported  those  principles  in  truth  and  in  reality  9  She  waged 
eternal  war,  it  is  true,  against  the  Bourbons,  but  she  made 
equal  war  against  France  as  soon  as  the  revolution  was  un 
equivocally  on  foot,  and  in  every  stage  of  its  subsequent 
progress ;  she  supported  the  princes  of  Orange  in  all  their 
contests  with  the  popular  party  in  Holland,  when  the  de 
clared  object  of  the  Orange  faction  was  to  place  and  to  keep 
their  chief  at  the  head  of  the  Dutch  government ;  she  made 
war  in  Spain,  first  to  place  on  the  throne  a  member  of  the 
most  despotic  family  in  Europe,  and,  an  hundred  years  after 
wards,  to  maintain  there  a  prince  who  was  repudiated  by  the 
estates  of  the  kingdom ;  in  both  instances  exhibiting  herself 
as  the  champion  of  legitimacy  as  inveterately  as  the  Holy 
Alliance  can  be ;  she  was  art  and  part  with  the  allies  in  the 
cutting  up  of  nations,  when  they  were  dismembered  with 
out  the  ceremony  of  asking  their 'consent,  at  the  close  of 
the  struggle  with  Napoleon,  including  the  establishment 
of  the  house  of  Orange  on  a  throne,  after  so  many  years 
aspiration  at  one;  she  stood  by  a  passive  spectator  of  the 
first  and  the  successive  partitions  of  Poland,  when  a  single 
cannon  discharged  by  her  would  have  prevented  those  viola 
tions  of  public  law  :  and,  where  the  whole  game  was  in 
her  own  hands,  in  the  East  Indias,  she  has  instituted  or  per 
petuated  the  most  egregious  despotism  in  the  world,  not  ex 
cepting  that  of  Constantinople.  No  act  in  her  history  au 
thorizes  the  expectation  that  she  will  ever  be  found  arrayed 
on  the  side  of  civil  freedom.  She  resembles  the  Spartans 
in  this;  contented  with  enjoying  the  name,  the  shadow,  of  a 


Vide  Segur's  account  of  the  conversations  at  St  Helena. 


29 

liberal  constitution  herself,  she  not  only  sees  with  indifference 
the  subjection  of  other  nations,  but  she  even  reduces  those 
who  are  in  her  power  to  a  state  of  servitude.  I  therefore 
place  no  faith  in  any  declarations  of  hers  in  favour  of  liberty 
among  other  nations ;  why  even  at  this  hour,  an  explicit  and 
positive  declaration  on  her  part  would  terminate  the  dis 
tresses  in  Spain  by  inducing  the  grant  of  a  liberal  con 
stitution,  and  she  might  in  like  manner  end  the  war  of 
extermination  in  Greece.  Men  are  liable  to  draw  errone 
ous  conclusions  from  known  facts,  but  there  is  no  reason 
perceptible  to  my  conceptions  for  disbelieving  that  England 
is  a  party  to  the  Holy  Alliance,  either  on  account  of  the 
avowed  objects  of  that  confederation,  or  on  account  of  the 
views  which  are  imputed  to  it  by  its  enemies.  This  argu- 
gument  on  the  probability  of  England's  being  a  party,  in 
some  measure,  to  the  Holy  Alliance,  may  seem  to  be  a  wide 
digression ;  its  application  will  be  seen  presently.  But  I 
must  add  one  word  more.  England  has  certainly  to  appre 
hend  from  the  Alliance  something  like  the  armed  coalition, 
to  interfere  with  her  maritime  pretensions,  in  case  of  future 
wars ;  nevertheless,  I  see  no  reason,  for  this  cause,  to  conclude 
she  is  not  now  one  of  the  confederates  ;  she  would  even  gain 
more  by  conciliating  the  other  powers,  and  by  presence  in 
their  councils,  then  by  open  and  avowed  opposition  to  them. 
I  will  not  stop  to  discuss  the  question  whether  it  is  the 
true  interest  of  Europe,  and  particularly  of  the  Holy  Alli 
ance,  to  interpose  in  American  affairs.  Interest,  well  under 
stood,  would  perhaps  be  the  mother  of  every  good  action; 
for  nothing  can  be  more  to  the  real  interest  of  nations  or  of 
an  individual,  than  virtue,  justice,  and  correct  conduct.  But 
whoever  argues  invariably  upon  the  presumption  created  by 
the  adage  that  all  men  are  governed  by  their  interests,  will 
find  himself  wofully  deceived ;  he  must  presuppose  that  all 
men  are  equally  and  profoundly  intelligent.  The  contrary  is 
the  fact,  and  the  whole  tenor  of  experience  and  history  shews 
that  prejudice,  passion,  caprice,  momentary  impulse,  or  ex 
citement,  govern  men's  actions  much  more  than  deefj  rea 
soning  upon  causes  and  their  consequent  effects.  Those 

E 


30 

who  are  at  the  head  of  affairs,  after  all,  are  but  men,  and 
are  under  the  influence  of  the  emotions  which  regulate  the 
conduct  of  the  rest  of  the  species;  "homo  sum  et  nil  huma- 
num  a  me  alienum  puto,"  may  be  and  ought  to  be  the  ground 
for  judging,  as  well  as  the  motto,  of  every  statesman.  In  the 
bosom  of  a  politician  ambition  for  celebrity  succeeds  ambition 
for  office;  a  desire  of  distinction,  and,  in  consequence,  an  in 
clination  to  s^ize  upon  and  to  identify  himself  with  whatever 
leading  or  important  events  and  contingencies  agitate  or  at 
tract  the  attention  of  the  world,  and  to  signalize  himself  by  per 
forming  something  that  may  be  striking,  without  much  regard 
to  any  consideration  but  that  it  is  striking,  and  may  hand  his 
name  down  to  posterity  as  well  as  claim  the  notice  of  the 
present  generation ;  these  motives  produce  the  greater  part 
of  the  actions  of  the  rulers  of  the  earth,  whether  they  are 
clad  in  the  imperial  ermine,  or  more  really  sway  the  destinies 
of  their  countries  from  the  less  ostentatious  recesses  of  the 
cabinet.  I  will  therefore  not  argue  now  upon  the  interests  of 
Europe  in  the  participation  she  may  attempt  to  take  in 
American  concerns. 

There  is  a  consideration  however  which  demands  fuller 
examination,  as  it  is  more  likely  to  induce  an  interposition 
of  the  Holy  Alliance  or  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  in  their 
separate  capacities.  That  coalition  proves  itself  by  its  ac 
tions  and  by  its  declarations  to  be' under  the  influence  of  the 
ignis  fatuus  of  the  balance  of  power — a  notion  which  has 
been  the  pretence  or  excuse  for  more  bloodshed  than  any 
other  topic  which  has  agitated  the  world  since  the  crusades 
— a  novelty  in  history,  which  cannot  be  traced  beyond  the 
middle  or  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  when  it 
originated  in  England  as  a  catch  word  to  serve  as  a  rallying 
cry  for  party.  It  becomes  every  man  to  be  diffident  in 
assertions  of  this  kind,  but  my  feeble  researches  never  met 
with  the  idea  until  that  period;  or  if  they  did  it  has  entirely 
escaped  my  notice;  and  if  I  can  be  corrected  I  shall  be  the 
first  to  acknowledge  my  error.  It  certainly  was  unknown 
during  the  Carlovingian  epoch,  during  the  period  of  the 
Norman  inroads,  during  the  contests  of  the  English  kings 
for  French  territories  or  for  the  French  crown,  during  the 


31 

almost  universal  empire  of  Charles  V. ;  or  at  least  I  cannot 
find  it  until  the  period  above  designated. 

This  idea  of  preserving  the  balance  of  power  may  lead 
the  sovereigns  of  Europe  (or  their  cabinets  which  is  the 
same  thing,  and  indeed  the  real  thing  as  matters  stand  at 
present),  to  apprehend  the  consequences  of  the  establish 
ment  of  a  number  of  rich,  and  several  powerful,  republics, 
connected  by  numerous  ties  of  commercial  and  political 
sympathies,  although  separated  from  them  by  the  surges  of 
the  vast  ocean.  Should  such  an  apprehension  possess  the 
minds  of  European  statesmen,  there  is  no  fixing  bounds  to 
the  extent  to  which  they  may  think,  or  pretend,  themselves 
impelled  to  mingle  in  American  affairs.  It  is  possible — it 
is  much  more  than  possible,  it  is  extremely  probable,  that 
such  will  be  the  result  of  the  midnight  meditations  of  the 
members  of  the  Alliance,  especially  when  they  see  that  the 
southern  republics,  if  not  ourselves,  are  fully  sensible  of  the 
urgent  expediency  of  uniting  their  forces  and  of  cementing 
their  natural  sympathies,  in  order  not  only  to  resist  foreign 
aggression,  but  also  to  preserve  that  harmony  among  them 
selves,  without  which  they  must  inevitably  be  the  victims  to 
ceaseless  and  devastating  commotions,  and  be  the  prey  of 
any  power  which  will  take  the  trouble  to  seize  the  dominion 
of  their  beautiful  and  auriferous  regions.  It  will  be  consid 
ered  that  the  prolific  nature  of  the  American  population, 
the  vast  riches  and  resources  of  its  territories,  the  maritime 
inclination  of  many  of  its  sections,  the  inexhaustible  and  ex 
cellent  quality  of  its  materials  for  ship  building,  the  vigorous 
activity  inspired  by  the  fresh  youthfulness  of  those  nations, 
together  with  that  derived  from  the  nature  of  our  liberal  in 
stitutions,  will  very  shortly  produce  a  consolidation  of  power 
whose  capabilities  and  whose  action  can  only  be  circum 
scribed  by  the  sense  of  justice,  respect  for  the  rights  of 
others,  and  contentment  with  its  own  condition,  which  will 
result  from  the  principles  on  which  those  institutions  are 
based.  If  foreigners  have  not  full  confidence  in  such  mo 
tives  and  such  principles,  they  will  naturally  regard  with 
great  alarm  the  incipiency  of  such  a  power,  and  will  conse 
quently  do  all  that  in  them  lies  to  prevent  its  formation.  If 


32 

this  should  be  the  course  adopted  abroad,  nothing  is  more 
necessary  than  that  the  United  States  should  throw  their 
weight  into  the  scale,  in  order,  by  manifesting  their  deter 
mination  or  by  adding  their  force  to  the  power  of  America 
if  necessary,  to  prevent  the  assailing  of  the  new  empires  and 
the  subversion  of  the  principles  which  we  maintain:  if  a 
contrary  policy  be  pursued  across  the  sea,  and  I  devoutly 
hope  for  it,  a  greater  confidence  will  be  inspired  by  our  tem 
pering  the  southern  vivacity  with  the  phlegm  of  northern 
constitutions. 

The  continental  powers  can  hardly  be  possessed  of  the 
fancy  that  these  nations  could  feel  a  desire  to  extend  their 
dominions,  when  their  actual  territories  are  already  so  ex 
tensive  that  it  will  require  at  least  two  centuries  to  give  them 
even  a  moderate  population,  and  when  it  is  so  evidently  the 
interest  of  every  man  of  property  inhabiting  them,  to  con 
centrate  the  population,  rather  than  to  encourage  its  diffu 
sion  over  countries  added  to  those  whose  great  extent  and 
sparse  population  occasion  many  serious  inconveniences. 
If  the  allies  argue,  however,  from  premises  drawn  from 
the  thickly  inhabited  and  closely  bounded  countries  of  Eu 
rope,  and  if  they  shall  be  so  misadvised  as  to  inflict  upon 
America  the  necessity  of  contending  with  them  to  avoid  be 
ing  cursed  with  the  notion  of  that  political  hallucination, 
the  balance  of  power,  then  will  they  find  the  English  fleet 
a  most  desirable  auxiliary  to  their  projects ;  and  then  will  the 
question,  whether  England  be  a  party  to  the  Holy  Alliance, 
become  one  of  the  gravest  import.  They  can  cross  the  seas 
without  that  fleet;  but  if  England  should  be  inclined  to  op 
pose  them,  it  would  be  a  very  disagreeable  obstacle  to  a 
transmarine  expedition. 

There  is  a  curious  circumstance  with  respect  to  the  marines 
of  Europe :  England  is  eternally  counting  her  ships  and  pub 
lishing  their  amazing  numbers;  every  statistical  or  military 
account  is  swelled  with  details  about  them :  on  the  other  hand 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Russia,  say  scarcely  any  thing  offi 
cial  on  the  subject  of  theirs;  we  find  a  continental  man 
of  war  every  now  and  then  named  in  the  list  of  arrivals  by 


33 

foreign  journals ;  and  when  any  of  our  travellers  happen  to  go 
into  the  harbours  of  Antwerp,  Brest,  or  Toulon,  not  to  extend 
the  list,  they  are  surprised  at  seeing  forests  of  masts;  and 
this,  after  the  annihilation  of  the  continental  navies  accord 
ing  to  the  English  accounts,  which  by  the  bye  detailed  the 
the  capture  of  more  vessels  during  a  few  years  of  the  late 
war  than  France  ever  owned.  What  is  the  reason  of  this 
vaunting  on  one  side  and  this  taciturnity  on  the  other*?  Are 
there  in  very  truth  so  many  vessels  of  war  in  England  as  she 
pretends  "?  We  know  that  the  vessels  of  France,  the  king 
dom  of  the  Netherlands,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  are  very 
numerous,  but  we  do  not  know  their  number.  Are  there 
more  men  of  war  built  and  building  in  those  countries  than 
we  have  imagined  °l  They  are  certainly  so  numerous  that 
there  is  no  cause  for  concealing  the  number;  but  it  is  con 
cealed  ;  and  therefore  the  reason  for  the  secrecy  must  be 
searched  for  in  some  other  cause.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  public  have  no  means  of  knowing  these  details  but 
from  official  documents  published  by  the  governments.  If 
the  like  conduct  were  pursued  by  individuals,  we  should  say 
that  the  one  desired  to  intimidate  by  an  ostentatious  display 
of  his  strength  and  by  overrating  it,  and  that  the  others  really 
possessed  greater  force  than  they  thought  fit  to  exhibit.  A 
man  who  knows  the  world  encounters  a  "  fire  eater"  with  an 
absolute  conviction  that  he  wants  bottom.  However,  whether 
the  number  of  the  English  men  of  war  be  exaggerated  or 
not,  we  knmv  enough  of  them  to  satisfy  us  that  it  is  an  ugly 
business  for  a  fleet  of  transports  to  cross  the  Atlantic  with 
a  prospect  of  encountering  them ;  although  I  am  persuaded 
that  the  marine  of  the  continental  powers  united  is  more  nu 
merous  than  the  British  ;  and  they  have  been  taught  by  severe 
experience  the  absurdity  of  allowing  themselves  to  be  beaten 
in  detail,  which  has  been  the  great  secret  of  the  English  na 
val  warfare,  whether  considered  upon  the  great  scale  of  the 
plan  of  a  war,  or  upon  the  smaller  one  of  a  single  battle. 
The  extent  of  the  coasts  of  the  maritime  powers,  and  the  dis 
tance  between  their  naval  depots,  which  of  course  render  the 
junction  of  their  fleets  more  difficult,  have  contributed  to 
enable  England  to  beat  them  as  they  attempt  to  unite,  be- 


34 

cause  she  has  always  kept  the  main  body  of  her  fleets  con 
centrated  at  two  or  three  harbours  not  very  far  distant  from 
one  another.  This  ought  to  serve  also  as  a  lesson  to  our 
selves:  the  advantage  of  obtaining  provisions  and  naval 
stores  cheaper  by  dispersing  the  ships  or  fleets  in  different 
ports  is  not  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  hazard  of  their 
being  cut  off  when  they  attempt  to  rendezvous,  nor  is  it  equi 
valent  to  the  important  object  of  having  the  whole  power  of 
a  navy  concentrated,  so  that  its  blows  may  be  struck  en 
masse.  The  true  tactique  of  a  nation  which  owns  line  of 
battle  ships  is,  to  concentrate  them  all  at  one  naval  station, 
upon  the  first  appearance  of  a  war,  and  not  to  run  the  risk 
of  delaying  their  junction  until  hostilities  have  actually  com 
menced.  If  the  French  fleets  had  been  concentrated  either 
at  Brest  or  at  Toulon  when  the  war  with  England  broke  out, 
European  politics  would  probably  wear  at  present  a  very 
different  aspect. 

Instructed  by  dearly  bought  experience,  the  continental 
powers  will  no  doubt  endeavour  by  all  means  to  secure  the 
co-operation  of  the  English  fleet,  if  they  should  meditate  a 
forcible  interference  with  the  relations  of  the  two  Americas ; 
and  this  will  very  probably  succeed,  by  holding  out  to  her 
the  triple  advantage  of  profit  to  her  commerce,  by  supply 
ing  the  armaments,  as  well  as  by  extending  the  consumption 
of  her  manufactures  in  the  countries — of  benefit  to  her  ship 
ping  interest  by  the  transportation  of  the  troops,  and  by  car 
rying  their  supplies — and  of  permanent  emolument  by  pro 
posing  to  her  the  lion's  share  in  the  distribution  of  the  spoils 
and  conquests. 

But  will  England  unite  in  projects  for  interference  with 
American  affairs  "?  She  will  do  any  thing  which  tends  to 
promote  the  sale  of  cutlery  and  calicoes.  At  least  I  think 
so,  and  I  believe  my  opinion  to  be  sanctioned  by  all  her  past 
conduct — by  the  whole  tenor  of  her  history. 

If  any  one  should  ask  why  I  harp  incessantly  upon  Eng 
land,  and  why  I  still  return  to  the  same  theme  in  every  stage 
of  my  argument ;  I  reply  that  she  is  our  great  rival  in  every 
interest,  commercial  naval  or  political,  and  even  in  glory ; 
that  she  is  at  once  our  most  powerful,  most  enterprising,  and 


35 

most  dangerous  competitor  ;  that  she  is  most  able  to  do  us 
harm ;  and  that  her  system,  as  well  as  her  interest,  is  most 
directly  in  opposition  to  our  own. 

I  will  conclude  the  present  consideration  of  the  Holy  Alli 
ance,  and  of  European  relations,  with  saying  that,  although  I 
place  considerable  confidence  in  their  public  and  solemn  de 
clarations,  and  ardently  hope  that  they  will  be  restrained  by 
a  sense  of  justice  and  propriety,  and  by  respect  for  the  opinion 
of  the  world  and  for  the  judgment  of  posterity — of  history 
— yet  it  is  so  probable  the  notion  of  the  balance  of  power  or 
a  desire  of  individuals  to  signalize  themselves  will  prompt  a 
course  of  conduct  contrary  to  our  hopes,  to  our  best  desires, 
and  to  our  interests,  that  all  possible  measures  of  precaution 
ought  to  be  adopted  to  repress  any  such  impulses,  and  to 
obviate  their  consequences,  in  case  they  determine  to  molest 
nations  which  regard  them  with  the  most  friendly  senti 
ments,  but  which  desire  no  political  intimacy  with  countries 
separated  from  us  by  half  the  globe,  and  differing  from  us  in 
habits,  in  prejudices,  in  system,  and  in  feeling.  If  the  United 
States  take  an  open  and  decided  part  with  the  other  nations 
of  our  continent,  this  weight  added  to  the  aggregate  force 
will  make  it  so  powerful,  that  it  will  probably  restrain  foreign 
powers  from  the  conception  of  interference ;  and  if  inimical 
designs  are  formed,  it  will  render  their  execution  next  to 
impossible:  if  nothing  injurious  to  us  be  undertaken,  such  a 
proceeding  upon  our  side  will  produce  no  inconvenience :  but 
if  the  reverse  should  happen,  then  our  interposition  becomes 
a  matter  of  absolute  necessity. 

We  have  more  or  less  intercourse  with  many  nations  whose 
opinions  are  certainly  to  be  highly  respected,  but  whose  re 
lations  with  us  are  not  such  as  to  bring  them  into  the  scope 
of  these  observations ;  it  is  therefore  not  thought  necessary 
to  treat  of  them  separately  and  specifically. 


'   -3Ctf  MM 

.fir  trl  t«9ft9ift 


CHAPTER  VII. 

»*.K 


JL  PROCEED  to  some  general  considerations  respecting 
the  South  American  states,  and  Mexico  ;  observing  here  that 
whenever  South  America  is  mentioned  without  remarking 
the  discrimination,  it  is  meant  to  include  Mexico,  although 
she  is  in  fact  in  North  America  ;  following  in  this  the  com 
mon  and  loose  mode  of  designating  among  us  the  Hispano- 
American  states. 

The  question  of  independence  from  Spain  is  settled  ;  there 
cannot  be  a  doubt  of  this.  The  vast  change  in  every  rela 
tion  may  still  produce  some  commotions,  whose  immediate 
causes  may  be,  either  effervescences  among  the  people  un 
accustomed  to  liberty,  and  as  yet  scarcely  prepared  for  the 
exercise  of  the  power  of  self  government  which  the  revolu 
tion  has  conferred  upon  them;  or,  the  disappointment  and 
and  discontent  of  some  who  are  deprived  of  the  authority  or 
privileges  they  lately  possessed,  and  who  will  run  the  risk  of 
losing  the  fortunes  left  to  them  as  well  as  the  immunities  they 
have  in  common  with  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  in  hope 
of  regaining  by  a  new  order  of  things  a  portion  of  what 
they  have  lost,  and  still  regret;  or,  finally,  the  ambition 
or  excited  feelings  of  others  who  are  not  satisfied  with  a  state 
of  secure  mediocrity,  but  desire  to  elevate  themselves  to  rank, 
power,  or  fortune,  by  means  of  intestine  disturbances.  Some 
few  may  be  tempted  by  Spanish  gold  and  the  prospect  of 
European  titles  to  make  movements  in  favour  of  the  old  do 
mination  of  the  mother  country.  The  good  sense  of  the  peo 
ple,  their  exhaustion  and  desire  for  repose  after  their  late 


37 

struggles,  will  be  sufficient  to  repress  disturbances  arising 
from  the  first  of  these  causes;  and  their  antipathy  to  Spain, 
excited  by  their  sufferings,  and  by  the  relentless  severity  with 
which  the  war  was  carried  on,  will  be  a  safeguard  against 
any  dangerous  effects  from  the  latter  cause ;  besides,  there 
are  so  many  men  of  talents,  education,  and  influence  en 
listed  body  and  soul  in  the  support  of  the  existing  order  of 
affairs,  that  they  will  be  able  to  overwhelm  all  opposition, 
and  to  support  effectually  the  actual  condition  of  their  re 
spective  countries.  Spain  has  really  done  so  much,  or  to  say 
the  least  the  conduct  of  some  of  her  officers,  for  which  she  is 
held  responsible,  has  had  the  effect  of  alienating  the  feelings 
of  her  late  colonies  so  thoroughly,  that  they  will  endure  sub 
jection  to  any  other  power  in  preference  to  hers ;  they  never 
can  forgive  her  for  what  they  have  endured,  and  her  na 
tional  character  does  not  promise  that  much  will  be  done  on 
her  part  to  conciliate  them :  it  seems  rather  probable  that 
the  resentment  will  be  reciprocal ;  as  she  is  not  likely  to  get 
over  the  offence  to  her  pride,  and  the  injury  to  her  interests, 
which  have  been  inflicted  by  the  emancipation  of  the  colo 
nies.  The  separation  from  the  mother  country  is  therefore 
irremediable  and  eternal,  whatever  may  be  the  discontent  or 
the  effect  of  a  few  persons  who  cherish  fond  recollections 
of  the  past  regime — of  an  era  which  has  gone  to  join  the 
shades  of  departed  centuries  in  the  vast  bosom  of  eternity. 

The  first  settlers  of  North  America  came  from  a  coun 
try  where  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  were  well  known 
and  established  in  theory  if  not  in  practice.  They  brought 
with  them  their  prejudices,  their  habits,  and  a  fitness  for 
the  form  of  government  which  was  afterwards  happily  or 
ganized  ;  indeed  they  had  every  thing  but  the  name  of 
republics,  except  the  presence  of  a  few  of  the  trappings  of 
monarchy,  before  our  revolution ;  and  of  course  as  soon  as 
a  republican  form  of  government  was  proclaimed,  they  were 
prepared  to  enter  upon  its  duties  and  for  enjoyment  of  its 
privileges.  Many  of  them  had  sought,  in  the  wildernesses 
of  the  newly  discovered  world,  a  refuge  from  what  they 
deemed  civil  or  religious  oppression  in  Great  Britain ;  many 
distinguished  men  fled  before  the  gloomy  persecution  of  the 
F 


pretended  commonwealth,  or  from  the  usurpation  by  a 
Dutch  king  of  his  father  in  law's  and  uncle's  crown ;  and  many 
others,  liberally  educated  and  of  eminent  families,  concealed 
themselves  in  woods  and  obscurity,  from  the  cruelties,  or  at 
best  the  watchful  jealousy  which  followed  two  unsuccessful 
although  courageous  attempts  to  reinstate  .an  illustrious  but 
illy  advised  and  unfortunate  family  in  what  they  supposed  just 
and  lawful  rights.  Altogether  a  mass  of  education,  intelli 
gence,  and  capacity  for  free  institutions  was  assembled  in  the 
Anglo-American  colonies,  which  qualified  them  for  the  beau 
tiful  system  under  which  we  live,  and  rendered  :  any  other 
foreign  to  their  dispositions  and  almost  impossible  to  be 
established.  Not  so  in  the  Spanish  colonies.  >  They  were 
colonies  of  soldiery  in  the  first  instance,  familiarized  with 
t'he  obligations  of  military  obedience,  made  more  imperative 
by  constant  danger  amidst  a  large  population  of  conquered 
nations;  and  in  fact  they  have  always  worn  very  much  the 
aspect  of  conquerors  cantoned  in  subdued  countries.  Their 
settlements  in  America  were  based  upon  forcible  conquests 
of  numerous  partially  civilized  nations:  ours  were  different; 
they  were  locations  of  civilians  in  regions  almost  deserts,  and 
feebly  contended  for  by  scattered  and  small  tribes  of  unim 
proved  savages,  to  oppose  whom  few  troops  were  necessary, 
so  few  that  the  civil  authority  would  have  been  irresistibly 
paramount,  even  if  the  hereditary  prejudices  of  the  popula 
tion,  and  of  the  military  drawn  from  its  bosom,  or  from 
amongst  the  people  from  whom  both  took  their  origin,  had 
not  assigned  that  preeminence  to  the  magistracy. 

That  the  Spanish  colonists  did  not  possess  strong  features 
of  character  and  education,  with  bravery,  and  talents,  would 
be  an  assertion  contradicted  by  every  page  of  their  annals. 
They  certainly  were  endowed  with  all  these  qualities  in  an 
eminent  degree;  else  they  never  would  have  been  able  to 
effect  and  to  retain  the  conquests  they  made.  But  the  very 
nature  and  necessity  of  their  establishments  were  decidedly 
military,  and  as  an  inevitable  consequence  savoured  of  despo 
tism.  The  wonderful  smallness  of  the  numbers  of  the  forces 
by  which  the  conquests  were  made,  tended  to  increase  the  ha 
bits  of  military  obedience,  and  of  course  to  foster  the  despotic 


39 

principle  (of  which  prolific  germs  were  brought  with  them 
from  their  native  country)  because  of  the  necessity  of  main 
taining  their  discipline,  at  least  so  far  as  was  required  for  the 
perfect  organization  of  their  troops,  their  aptitude  for  instant 
concentration,  and  for  immediately  taking  the  field ;  a  neces 
sity  imposed  upon  them  by  the  dangerous  position  they  long 
occupied,  surrounded  and  mingled  as  they  were  with  a  mul 
titudinous  and  scarcely  subjugated  population.  This  state  of 
things  continued  so  long  as  to  become  habitual,  to  have 
infused  deeply  into  the  breasts  of  the  conquistadores  the 
military  or  despotic  principle,  and  to  have  disseminated  it 
universally  among  those  who  followed  them  as  mere  settlers 
or  civilians,  all  of  whom  brought  from  home,  as  we  have 
just  said,  strong  dispositions  for  it  and  confirmed  habits. 

The  strong  monarchies  of  Europe  arose  from  exactly  similar 
circumstances.  The  original  inhabitants  were  very  liberal, 
almost  democratic,  in  their  institutions;  influenced  it  is  true  by 
superstitious  reverence  for  their  religious  orders,  and  headed 
by  a  military  chief,  who  exercised  but  little  of  sovereign  au 
thority  except  on  the  field  of  battle,  was  elected  by  the  body 
of  the  people,  all  themselves  soldiers  or  by  officers  who  were 
so  elected.  In  the  dark  ages  and  shortly  after  them,  these 
aborigines  were  invaded  and  conquered  by  Romans,  Franks, 
Goths,  Vandals,  Moors,  &c.  who  found  themselves  obliged 
to  preserve  their  military  array  in  the  midst  of  vanquished 
nations  more  numerous  than  they  were;  thus  they  became 
the  privileged  class,  tyrannizing  over  their  serfs  and  vassals, 
a  distinct  caste  in  each  state,  subsequently  modified  into  the 
nobility  of  each :  They  long  preserved  considerable  freedom 
or  license  among  themselves,  but  never  losing  their  military 
cohesion,  nor  the  aspect  of  armies  quartered  upon  their  con 
quests,  which  were  necessary  to  enable  them  to  maintain 
those  conquests;  a  state  of  affairs,  which  continued  down  to 
the  French  revolution,  and  which  still  partially  remains  in 
some  countries.  Familiarized  with  tyranny  by  their  own 
authority  over  their  vassals,  and  by  the  military  spirit  of 
their  institutions,  they  were  not  unapt  to  endure  the  monar 
chical  yoke,  already  respectable  to  them  in  the  persons  of 
their  commanders  in  chief,  when  the  dissensions  among 


40 

themselves  required  a  modification  of  their  forms  of  govern 
ment,  and  when  bold,  talented,  and  ambitious  chiefs  of  the 
state  knew  how  to  extend  an  hitherto  limited  command  in 
chief  for  war,  and  little  more  than  presidency  over  civil 
affairs,  and  to  convert  their  restricted  authority  into  absolute 
government,  by  alternate  artifice,  corruption,  and  force. 

As  the  foundations  of  the  Hispano-American  colonies 
were  laid  upon  bases  so  widely  different  from  those  whereon 
the  settlements  in  the  English  colonies  were  established,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  descendants  of  the  first  settlers 
should  be  found  much  less  prepared  than  we  were  for  re 
publican  institutions.  But  they  have  adopted  liberal  ideas, 
and  these  never  retrograde;  there  is  not  an  example  of  it  in 
history.  Rome  gives  none ;  she  was  always  a  monarchy  or 
an  oligarchy  ;  Greece  the  same;  and  all  other  nations  which 
were  free  owed  the  loss  of  their  freedom  to  conquest*.  The 
South  Americans  will  therefore  always  preserve  liberal  in 
stitutions,  whatever  shades  of  difference  or  mere  names  of 
offices  may  distinguish  theirs  from  ours — saving  always  the 
possibility  of  new  conquests,  which  hardly  can  enter  into 
the  calculation  of  remote  contingencies.  The  old  leaven 
may  however  produce  some  disturbances  before  the  mass  of 
the  people  become  familiarized  with  their  new  situation  and 
their  new  rights,  although  every  day  renders  them  more  and 
more  adapted  to  their  condition,  and  diffuses  the  ideas  and 
principles  upon  which  they  are  hereafter  to  act ;  they  are, 
as  it  were,  educated  or  instructed  by  the  passing  events  of 
every  day  in  the  science  of  self  government;  and  it  appears 
that  nearly  all  their  reading,  influential,  educated,  and  ta 
lented  men  are  enlisted  in  this  righteous  cause.  I  infer, 
that  although  the  inexperience  of  the  people  in  the  science 
of  self  government  may  be  the  cause  of  some  slight  efferves 
cences  of  an  anarchical  tendency,  or  the  misguided  ambition 
of  a  few  leaders  may  impel  them  to  attempts  of  an  opposite 
direction,  nevertheless  the  question  of  liberal  ideas  and  in 
stitutions  is  finally  decided  in  Hispano-Arnerica. 

Insurrections  or  internal  dissensions,  however  slight,  are 


Both  Rome  and  the  Grecian  states  were  originally  conquered  countries. 


41 

always  deplorable  events  ;  and  nothing  will  tend  to  interdict 
them,  and  even  to  prevent  the  formation  of  an  idea  of  them, 
so  effectually  as  the  grand  system  upon  which  we  shall 
presently  treat. 

Am  I  asked  to  be  more  explicit,  and  to  say  what  I  intend 
by  liberal  institutions;  if  I  mean  forms  of  government  exactly 
similar  to  our  own  9 — Why  the  fact  is,  the  topic  of  this  pam 
phlet,  however  illy  it  may  be  here  discussed,  is  too  grave  for 
an  essay  to  acquire  popularity  or  to  flatter  prejudices  or  to 
pamper  an  appetite  for  subserviency,  even  if  such  were  the 
character  of  the  writer,  which  certainly  is  not.  The  whole 
tenor  of  this  argument,  which  is  all  that  an  anonymous  writer 
need  appeal  to,  proves  that  its  great  object  is  to  contribute 
the  feeble  effort  of  one  of  her  humblest  votaries,  to  rivet  the 
glorious  standard  of  liberty  upon  the  loftiest  rock  of  the  vast 
Andes,  as  well  as  to  perpetuate  its  display  upon  the  Alleghe- 
nies — where  its  splendid  blazonry,  surrounded  by  the  mete 
oric  blaze  of  the  middle  heavens,  and  guarded  by  volcanic 
fires,  may  endure  forever  a  dazzling  beacon  and  a  rallying  sig 
nal  for  all  the  friends  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  These 
pages  also  shew  a  sympathy  with  those  who  are  born  in  the 
same  continent  and  an  attachment  to  my  fellow  citizens  which 
enable  me  to  speak  the  truth  without  fear  of  consequences,  if 
I  could  fear  them ;  the  South  Americans  cannot  doubt  my 
sincere  friendship,  nor  my  own  countrymen  my  allegiance.  I 
therefore  answer  directly  to  the  point.  I  do  not  mean,  when 
I  say  liberal  institutions,  that  they  will  be  exactly  like  ours. 
I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  for  the  inhabitants  of  Hispano- 
America  to  reconcile  themselves  or  their  habits  to  so  serious 
and  unadorned  a  form  of  government  as  that  of  these  United 
States,  until  at  least  two  generations  have  elapsed,  and  I 
doubt  whether  their  taste  will  not  always  require  much  more 
decoration  than  we  do;  nor  do  I  perceive  how  they  can  se 
cure  to  themselves  the  great  objects  of  civilized,  and  indeed 
of  every  stage  of  society,  security  of  person  and  of  property, 
without  a  much  stronger  government  than  we  have.  But  I 
am  convinced  that  despotism  in  any  shape  is  now  impossible 
in  those  countries,  and  that  they  are  more  liable  to  tend 
towards  an  opposite  extreme  for  some  time  to  come ;  which 


42 

liability  will  require  that  their  governments  be  endued  with 
considerable  strength  and  energy :  I  believe  also  that  op 
pression  on  the  part  of  an  aristocracy  or  of  the  government 
will  not  be  endured  by  the  people.  I  do  not  think  that  they 
are  arrived  at  the  condition  when  an  unarmed  individual,  as 
is  the  case  among  us,  shews  a  paper  to  an  offender  and  de 
sires  him  to  follow,  with  a  certainty  of  being  obeyed,  and 
when  the  person  thus  cited  does  follow  such  an  officer, 
without  resistance,  before  the  proper  tribunal ;  but  I  believe 
that  public  opinion  and  the  laws  will  not  permit  informal  or 
groundless  arrests  there,  and  much  less  personal  restraint  or 
loss  of  property  without  fair  trial  and  conviction  by  due  legal 
formalities  and  adjudication  by  the  competent  authorities, 
according  to  law.  These  are  liberal  institutions ;  and  from 
them  will  gradually,  but  certainly,  ensue  an  illumination  of 
the  public  mind,  which  will,  I  hope,  prepare  them  for,  and 
secure  to  them,  as  near  an  approach  to  our  forms  as  is  re 
concilable  to  their  climate  and  to  the  excitability  of  their 
temperament,  so  much  more  ardent  than  ours.  With  these 
principles  and  institutions  the  name  which  they  may  bestow 
upon  their  chief  magistrate,  or  the  greater  or  less  duration 
of  his  office,  will  not  be  a  matter  of  so  much  consequence 
as  it  would  be  in  Europe ;  except  as  adding  to,  or  diminish 
ing,  the  security  for  his  not  exceeding  the  restrictions  im 
posed  upon  him,  in  which  lies  tha  real  difference  between 
republicanism  and  monarchy.  Once  again  I  repeat  that  the 
system  I  advocate  will  have  a  tendency  to  increase  the  spirit 
of  republicanism  in  America  and  to  diminish  any  hidden 
inclination  to  monarchy — as  I  believe.  However,  be  my 
faith  what  it  may  in  the  dispositions  of  Hispano-America, 
what  I  have  just  said  will  afford  sufficient  reason  for  enter 
taining  some  apprehensions  in  case  the  Holy  Alliance,  or 
one  or  more  of  the  greater  powers,  shall  think  fit,  and  be 
permitted,  to  interfere  with  their  concerns  ;  there  is  no  know 
ing  what  may  be  effected  by  European  intrigue,  influence, 
and,  above  all,  money,  operating  upon  the  vestiges  of  ancient 
prejudices  and  habits,  in  favour  of  forms  of  government 
which  may  be  supposed  naturally  more  agreeable  to  them, 
•and  in  behalf  of  popular  leaders  endeared  to  their  fellow 


43 

citizens  by  services  or  by  merit.  If  our  conduct  towards  the 
new  states  should  alienate  their  affections  and  prevent  a 
close  and  familiar  intercourse  between  us,  thus  precluding 
them  from  witnessing  the  effects  of  our  institutions,  and  de 
priving  our  example  of  influence ;  if,  instead  of  drawing  close 
the  bonds  of  affinity,  we  induce  them,  by  our  indifference  or 
our  coldness,  to  throw  themselves  into  the  arms  of  the  allies^ 
then  indeed  I  will  not  pretend  to  assert  that  their  new  born 
liberty  and  liberal  ideas  may  not  be  so  much  distorted  as  to 
lose  all  manner  of  resemblance  -  to  the  original  model.  I 
see  no  particular  reason  why  animosity  towards  them  should 
be  excited  even  if  the  new  states  were  to  become  monarchies, 
but  certainly  such  a  fate  would  be  a  source  of  infinite  regret 
to  us,  after  our  having  flattered  ourselves  with  contemplation 
of  the  beautiful  vision  of  a  republican  continent ;  and  the 
disappointment  would  give  us  the  more  pain,  as  we  should 
have  the  consciousness  of  self  reproach,  as  well  as  the 
censure  of  the  expecting  world,  for  not  having  done  what 
was  in  our  power  to  influence  a  different  result  for  the  vast 
expense  of  blood,  treasure,  and  human  happiness  which  their 
independence  has  cost.  It  would  be  said  that  we  made  a 
great  uproar  about  the  French  revolution,  and  that  many  of 
us  talked  of  going  to  war  on  that  account,  when  we  could 
have  been  of  no  kind  of  use  to  France,  or  to  the  grand  cause 
of  civil  freedom  ;  but  that  now  when  the  nations  colimitary 
with  us  require  our  assistance  or  our  influence  in  favour  of 
the  same  principles,  and  when  we  could  be  of  effectual  service 
in  the  cause,  while  we  gained  their  gratitude,  we  stand  aloof; 
and  that  it  proves  us  to  be  a  nation  of  more  words  than  deeds 
— an  imputation  to  which,  as  one  of  the  nation,  I  would  be 
very  loth  to  submit,  and  which  I  hope  we  do  not  and  will  not 
deserve.  Permanent  foreign  dominion  I  consider  now  im 
possible  over  any  of  those  states,  whatever  may  be  the  par 
tial  effect  of  temporary  incursions ;  but  foreign  influence  is 
a  very  probable  circumstance,  in  case  an  American  system 
be  not  adopted ;  and  it  remains  for  us  to  conjecture  what 
would  be  the  deleterious  effect  of  such  an  influence  upon 
our  own  concerns — nay,  it  can  hardly  be  termed  conjectural, 
it  is  as  plain  as  the  light  of  the  noon  day  sun ;  and  if  there 


44 

shall  be  a  universal  confederation  of  the  American  states 
from  which  we  are  excluded  or  from  which  we  exclude  our 
selves,  there  are  no  bounds  to  the  injury  we  shall  sustain. 
We  cannot  prevent  such  a  confederation,  although  we  may 
refuse  to  join  it ;  and  it  is  manifestly  a  thing  decided  upon  ; 
nor  can  we  prevent  the  European  powers,  or  at  any  rate  some 
of  them,  particularly  England,  from  acquiring  an  influence 
which  we  reject,  and  from  exerting  it  to  our  disparagement ; 
we  shall,  by  neglecting  them  and  the  conjuncture,  alienate 
their  present  friendly  feelings,  give  umbrage,  and  create 
sensations  of  suspicion  or  jealousy  ;  the  consequence  will  be 
a  disinclination  for  political  and  commercial  relations  with 
us,  of  which  England  and  the  rest  of  Europe  will  instantly 
take  advantage ;  and  probably  these  sentiments  will  be  fol 
lowed  by  a  coolness  towards  the  forms  of  government  of  which 
we  have  given  the  example. 

It  is  directly  the  interest  of  the  new  nations  to  form  a  grand 
confederation  in  order  to  keep  the  peace  between  themselves 
and  to  enable  them  to  defend  themselves  against  foreign 
attacks.  They  have  the  first  principle,  the  germ,  of  confede 
ration  in  their  being  all  of  one  family  :  Brazil  to  be  sure  is 
only  a  kind  of  cousin  to  the  rest :  identity  of  language  and 
of  religion  strengthen  the  fraternity.  There  is  therefore 
every  reason  to  be  certain  that  they  will  confederate,  and  the 
reasons  are  quite  as  cogent  as  those  which  induced  these 
United  States  to  do  so,  but  their  vast  extent  will  necessarily 
prevent  their  confederation  from  being  so  intimate  as  ours : 
it  will  be  more  like  a  fascia  of  nations  than  one  nation.  They 
have  abundance  of  intelligence  and  of  perception  of  their 
true  interest  to  convince  them  of  the  expediency  of  the 
measure,  and  the  example  of  the  Holy  Alliance  proves 
that  a  grand  confederation  of  nations  is  a  possibility  and  is 
in  conformance  with  the  illumination  of  the  age.  There 
would  be  little  doubt  therefore  of  their  confederating,  even 
if  Bolivar  had  not  proposed  it  now.  If  the  system  is  formed 
without  us,  in  the  very  probable  case  of  any  contest  arising 
between  them  and  us,  we  shall  have  to  oppose  the  force  not 
of  one  member  of  the  confederation,  which  we  should  do 
with  success,  but  of  the  whole  united  strength  of  the  allied 


45 

powers,  and  the  conflict  would  be  most  perilous.  I  have 
sufficient  confidence  in  the  resources,  the  vis  of  my  country 
to  believe  that  it  can  not  be  subdued,  but  a  contest  with  the 
power  of  all  the  rest  of  the  continent  would  be  excessively 
prejudicial  to  us.  France,  with  her  immense  strength  and 
wealth,  has  given  an  example  of  what  a  nation  has  to  expect 
when  a  continent  is  arrayed  against  it;  we  can  not  ration 
ally  calculate  upon  being  more  successful  than  she  was, 
especially  when  we  recollect  what  innumerable  armies  she 
possessed,  their  admirable  discipline,  their  familiarity  with 
war,  the  strength  of  her  government,  and  above  all  that  she 
was  headed  and  her  armies  led  by  the  first  captain  of  the 
world. 

I  have  no  doubt  the  rest  of  the  continent  will  confederate, 
with  us  or  without  us,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  it  would 
savour  of  the  most  unpardonable  imprudence  and  rashness, 
that  it  would  be  tempting  and  defying  destiny,  to  hesitate  in 
uniting  in  a  system  which  promises  us  safety  from  every  peril, 
which  will  secure  ta  us  every  advantage  that  politics  can 
afford,  and  which  does  not  threaten  us  with  a  single  incon 
venience,  unless  peace  and  safety,  commerce  and  wealth,  are 
inconveniences.  If  we  choose  to  preserve  the  right  of  mak 
ing  war  when  we  please,  we  may  do  so;  but  then  we  must 
abide  the  lot  of  war  against  fearful  odds  in  America,  and  of 
foreign  war  without  assistance,  or  even  with  a  risk  of  having 
our  limitrophes  marshalled  against  us. 

A  proof  of  what  has  been  said  above,  about  the  influence 
of  ancient  habits  and  prejudices,  is  found  in  the  actual  state 
of  the  Brazils.  It  does  not  seem  that  the  imperial  government 
will  possess  much  influence  or  ascendancy  over  the  other 
states,  nor  that  it  will  change  its  form  in  its  own  territory ; 
the  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  the  power  of  the  aristo 
cracy,  are  too  great  to  anticipate  a  change,  and  the  latter 
have  too  much  to  lose  to  part  with  their  present  prerogatives 
without  a  severe  struggle,  which  the  great  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  does  not  appear  inclined  to  make  against  insti 
tutions  familiarized  by  the  recollections  of  infancy,  and  ren 
dered  attractive  by  the  pomp,  ceremony,  and  captivation  of 
regal  splendour. 
* 


46 


CHAPTER  VIII 


M: 


.EXICO  will  probably  continue  pretty  much  as  she  is. 
She  had  a  rich,  brave,  and  powerful  nobility ;  such  of  the  no 
blesse  as  have  not  fallen  in  the  revolutionary  contest,  or  have 
not  emigrated,  have  consented,  whether  voluntarily  or  on 
compulsion  makes  no  difference,  to  the  abrogation  of  their 
privileges,  and  are  prudently  enlisted  in  the  interests  of  the 
republic — prudently  on  both  sides,  since  the  mass  of  the  peo 
ple  have  thus  secured  to  themselves  the  education,  talents,  and 
hereditary  courage  of  the  cidevant  nobility,  and  these  have 
avoided  the  dangers  and  misfortunes  of  a  contest,  which  might 
otherwise  have  overwhelmed  the  whole  country.  Besides, 
Mexico  is  so  proximate,  has  had  openly  or  secretly  so  much 
intercourse  with  us,  that  she  could' not  fail  to  have  imbibed 
a  portion  of  our  democratic  spirit,  much  larger  than  the  other 
states  had  an  opportunity  of  acquiring.  Hence  has  ensued 
their  adoption  of  our  singular  form  of  confederation,  which 
differs  in  so  many  points  from  the  Germanic,  Helvetic,  Bata- 
vian,  and  Rhenish  confederations,  and  from  several  former  go 
vernments  in  Europe,  and  which  nevertheless  agrees  with 
them  in  many  of  their  prominent  features.  The  differences 
between  those  and  the  Mexican  confederations  are  so  conside 
rable  that  it  is  almost  certain  ours  was  the  prototype  for  the 
present  Mexican  government.  The  establishment  of  this  pe 
culiarity  was  unexpected  to  the  world.  It  possesses  a  com 
pactness,  a  principle  of  adhesion,  beyond  ours,  because  all 
that  is  now  comprehended  in  the  Mexican  confederation 
formerly  composed  one  viceroyalty,  and,  although  divided 


47 

into  presidencias,  audiencias,  and  capitancias  generates,  was 
still  subjected  to  the  central  authority  of  the  kingly  represen 
tative  at  Mexico,  formed  part  of  a  great  kingdom,  and  was 
united  by  the  community  of  feeling  or  interest  which  charac 
terize  a  nation,  and  radiated,  together  with  the  settlements, 
from  one  common  focus.  This  entirety  has  been  recently, 
not  broken,  but  only  politically  divided  by  ideal  lines,  for 
sake  of  more  convenient  government;  the  sympathies  and 
interests,  laws,  customs,  and  habits  of  life,  as  well  as  of  ideas, 
remain  as  heretofore  the  same  in  their  leading  principles. 
The  North  American  states  on  the  other  hand,  were  origi 
nally  settled  by  emigrants  for  different  causes,  at  different 
times,  of  different  castes,  with  different  sentiments,  different 
interests,  and  under  different  leaders ;  nothing,  for  instance, 
could  be  more  dissimilar  than  the  puritanical  settlers  of 
New  England,  and  the  royalist  cavaliers  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia,  the  quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  catholics  of 
Maryland.  They  formed  separate  communities  and  govern 
ments  with  no  bond  of  union  between  them  and  in  no  wise 
connected,  except  by  their  common  responsibility  and  alle 
giance  to  the  sovereign  of  the  mother  country :  of  course, 
when  they  threw  off  this  allegiance  they  were  each  as  sove 
reign  and  independent  of  each  other  as  countries  could  be ; 
they  broke  no  ties  between  themselves,  because  there  were 
none  to  break ;  they  had  no  tie  to  break  but  that  by  which  they 
were  bound  to  the  English  crown;  and  their  future  connec 
tion  was  an  alliance  between  sovereign  independent  nations; 
the  confederation  was  a  compact,  and  a  relinquishment  of 
the  capital  or  general  government  with  many  points  of  par 
ticular  government,  to  a  central  delegated  sovereignty — it 
was  the  melting  down  of  many  nations,  and  recasting  them 
into  one  colossal  image  of  strength  and  power,  of  which 
they  composed  the  mighty  limbs — an  operation,  an  event,  as 
indispensable  to  our  welfare,  and  happiness,  to  our  domestic 
tranquillity,  and  to  our  external  security,  as  the  breath  to  the 
nostrils  of  our  life.  But  the  fable  teaches  us  that  the  mem 
bers  once  repined  at  their  dependence  upon  the  common 
source  of  their  strength ;  and  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to 
remind  the  states  of  our  confederacy  of  this  wise  apothegm. 


48 

The  circumstance  of  all  Mexico  having  so  recently  composed 
one  body  corporate,  gives  us  abundant  reason  to  hope  that 
a  long  time  will  elapse  before  the  motion  of  the  great  wheel 
of  government  will  create  a  sufficient  centrifugal  power  to 
inspire  the  least  tendency  in  any  of  its  members  to  fly  oft" 
from  their  mutual  cohesion. 

Whether  it  has  been  perfectly  prudent  or  not  in  Mexico 
to  have  adopted  this  system,  remains  to  be  proved.  All  the 
great  nations  known  to  history  have,  at  one  time  or  other  of 
their  existence,  been  little  else  than  confederacies ;  and  all 
have,  in  the  lapse  of  years,  in  the  process  of  illumination,  or 
of  ambition,  been  agglomerated  into  homogeneous  masses. 
The  examples  I  will  name  are,  the  English  heptarchy,  not 
to  penetrate  the  darkness  of  Pictish  tradition;  I  think  the 
same  may  be  said  of  her  condition  under  the  Norman  aris 
tocracy,  a  mere  confederation  of  nobility,  down  to  the  dynasty 
of  the  Tudors ;  the  union  of  the  English  and  Welsh  crowns 
from  Edward  down  to  a  comparatively  modern  date  and 
perhaps  even  from  an  anterior  date ;  the  feodal  relation  of 
those  countries;  the  scarcely  more  than  suzerain  submission 
of  the  Scottish  clans,  with  the  kingdoms  of  Man,  and  of  the 
Isles,  to  the  crown  of  Scotland ;  the  union  of  the  Scottish, 
English,  and  Irish  crowns,  when  the  brows  of  the  descen 
dants  of  Fergus  the  first  were  bound  with  the  triple  diadem ; 
the  Irish  sovereignty  conquered  by  the  English  kings :  France 
under  the  Merovignian,  Carlovingian,  and  Capetian  kings 
down  to  Louis  the  eleventh :  the  accumulation  of  crowns 
on  the  heads  of  the  house  of  Este  or  Austria  descended 
to  the  branch  of  Lorain :  and  Spain  until  Charles  the  fifth. 
All  these  and  many  others  have  exhibited  exemplars  of  con 
federations,  and  all  have  been  merged  in  united  and  uniform 
monarchies,  except  the  German  empire,  which  still  shews  an 
appearance  of  separate  governments,  as  far  as  this  idea  is 
reconcilable  with  the  empire  of  a  single  head,  and  a  central 
cabinet  at  Vienna.  Our  confederation  began  upon  different 
principles,  with  a  greater  exemption  from  foreign  violence 
than  any  of  those  quoted,  and  promises,  from  the  cool  reflect 
ing  temper  of  our  people,  to  remain  much  longer  than  any 
of  them  in  its  present  situation,  et  fac  Deus  omnipotens  per- 


49 

petuam  rempublicam.  We  were  separate  sovereignties,  and 
practically  and  deliberately  united  ourselves  into  one  grand 
republic.  Mexico  was  one  undivided  nation,  and  has  peace 
ably  and  deliberately  subdivided  herself  into  separate  al 
though  confederated  republics. 

Thus  both  have  originated  in  principles  and  rudiments 
very  different  from  those  to  which  the  present  state  of  Eu 
rope  owes  its  commencement.  We  might  perhaps  improve 
our  condition  by  the  introduction  of  a  greater  degree  of  uni 
formity  in  our  laws,  and  constitutions  ;  but  the  fundamental 
principles  and  the  general  system  are  the  same  in  every  state 
of  the  union,  and  the  machinery  of  our  government  is  so  ge 
nerally  harmonious  and  so  good,  that  it  is  better  for  us  to  rest 
contented  with  some  slight  inconveniences,  rather  than  in  an 
attempt  to  "  make  well  better"  incur  the  risk  of  damaging 
parts  which  can  not  be  ameliorated.  Mexico,  having  adopted 
our  plan,  will  probably  be  of  the  same  opinion,  and  we  have 
therefore  every  reason  to  expect  that  her  system  will  endure 
for  a  long  period. 

She  is  less  liable  to  be  affected  by  foreign  influence  or 
force  than  any  part  of  South  America,  because  she  is  so 
much  stronger.  She  is  even  as  strong  at  least  as  ourselves, 
for  Humboldt  in  his  last  publication  of  statistical  works* 
whose  accuracy,  talent,  labour,  and  research,  are  beyond 
praise,  estimates  the  population  of  Mexico  in  her  average 
most  settled  parts,  comprehending  an  extent  of  600  con 
tinuous  square  marine  leagues,  at  1300  inhabitants  to  the 
square  league  ;  while  the  most  populous  region  in  the  United 
States  covering  only  522  leagues  has  not  more  than  900  inha 
bitants  to  the  leaguef  :  again  the  whole  territory  of  the  United 
States  contains  an  average  of  58  souls  to  the  square  league, 
while  Mexico  averages  90  souls  to  the  same  superficies.  He 
states  the  population  of  Mexico  at  seven  millions  at  the  date 
of  his  estimates,  and  that  of  the  United  States  at  10,220,000 : 
the  superficial  extent  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  he 
calls  2,086,800  square  miles,  or  174,306  square  marine  leagues. 


»*  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  pp.  185, 196 :  English  edition,  1826. 
t  By  the  census  of  1820.     Ibid. 


dO 

and  of  Mexico  75,830  square  leagues*.  Hence  there  is  a 
much  greater  relative  population  in  Mexico,  than  we  pos 
sess,  upon  a  similar  territory.  She  has  the  advantage  of  a 
capability  of  producing  every  thing  our  country  affords,  and 
many  other  richer  staples;  we  have  to  counterbalance  these 
advantages  the  characteristic  perhaps  of  greater  energy  of 
character,  or  at  least  of  somewhat  greater  industry.  If 
therefore  it  is  morally  and  practically  impossible  to  over 
power  the  United  States  by  a  foreign  force  as  I  confidently 
and  devoutly  believe,  it  is  also  impossible  to  overcome 
Mexico,  and  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  have  any  thing  to 
apprehend  for  their  institutions  except  from  themselves,  ex 
cept  from  the  operation  of  domestic  causes.  "  Liberty  may 
expire  in  anarchy  or  by  the  transitory  usurpation  of  a  daring 
chief;  but  the  true  elements  of  monarchy  are  nowhere  found 
in  modern  colonies."  I  agree  with  this  sentiment,  generally : 
it  will  be  seen  by  the  argument  used  some  pages  back,  that 
my  opinion  is  that  all  the  European  monarchies  are  founded 
upon  conquest,  by  which  the  race  of  the  conquerors  acquired 
the  distinction  of  caste;  the  word  is  technical,  there  is  none 
other  to  substitute  for  it;  party,  order,  faction,  will  not  do; 
noblesse  not  more,  for  they  have  frequently  bought  into  it; 
gentilhommerie  will  not,  for  it  means  now  "  a  certain  set"  in 
which  Brummel  was,  and  the  Murrays,  Northumberlands,  and 
Butes,  the  Montmorencies  and  the  Montgomeries,  were  not. 
The  armies  or  hordes  which  conquered,  were  either  chiefs 
otherwise  called  officers,  or  soldiers  :  the  former  became 
nobles  of  various  grades  according  to  their  ranks;  what  we 
should  call  lieutenants  general  became  dukes,  fursts,  and  so 
forth,  according  to  the  different  languages,  and  the  other 
officers  were  entitled  according  to  their  ranks  down  to  sim 
ple  knights,  ritters,  &c.  the  soldiery  were  the  gentry  or  the 
yeomanry  of  the  conquered  countries ;  some  of  the  abori 
gines  who  united  with  the  conquerors  were  gratified  with 
titles.  "The  mass  of  the  conquered  nations  were  vassals, 
serfs,  or  tenantry.  The  commanders  in  chief  became  konig, 
kings,  and  imperators.  This  was  the  primeval  origin  of  the 


*  Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  127. 


51 

dynasties  and  aristocracies  of  Europe — as  I  think,  without 
pretending  to  censure  those  whose  opinions  differ  from  mine. 

But  the  South  American  and  Mexican  settlements  were  not 
conducted  altogether  according  to  the  European  model.  Im 
mediately  after  the  conquests,  torrents  of  civilians,  ecclesias 
tical,  commercial,  agricultural,  and  mechanical,  poured  into 
those  golden  regions,  in  numbers  far  exceeding  the  totality  of 
the  victors  of  any  one  of  the  territories  which  now  constitute 
primary  monarchies  in  Europe.  William  the  conqueror  (con 
queror  translated  "  acquirer"  by  Blackstone,  drolly  enough)  is 
said  to  have  conquered  or  acquired  England  with  no  more  than 
60,000  men.  The  descendants  of  the  conquerors  of  France 
were  computed  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution  at  one 
million  of  souls  out  of  twenty-five  millions.  In  Mexico  alone 
Humboldt  calculated  that  in  1810,  about  three  centuries 
after  the  conquest,  there  were  of  the  pure  white  race  (with 
out  discriminating  how  many  ecclesiastics  were  coloured*) 
1,107,567,  out  of  a  total  population  6,122,354.  This  datum 
by  itself  suffices  to  shew  that  the  conservation  of  an  aristo 
cracy  of  the  conquerors  is  impossible;  it  would  be  so  nume 
rous  as  to  be  a  democracy  of  aristoi :  and  in  consequence  we 
find  that  the  titled  nobility  there  was  very  inconsiderable 
compared  with  that  of  Europe.  It  therefore  is  very  evident 
that  the  elements  of  monarchy  are  wanting  in  Mexico,  and 
whatever  individual  element  there  was,  is  now  destroyed  by 
the  destitution,  with  their  free  consent  or  by  the  force  of  po 
pular  sentiment,  of  the  nobility  created  by  the  Spanish  crown. 
I  emphasize  created,  because  the  European  saying,  which  is 
arrogant  enough,  that  "  the  king  can  make  a  nobleman,  but 
cannot  make  a  gentleman,"  has  more  political  truth  in  it  than 
would  appear  at  the  first  glance,  in  as  much  as  it  indicates 
the  truth  of  the  position  that  the  origin  of  nobility  and  of 
monarchy  is  to  be  traced  to  the  first  conquests  of  the  nations 
where  it  exists.  These  observations  apply  to  the  rest  of  the 
Hispano- American  states. 

The  time  appears  to  have  gone  by  when  it  was  possible  to 
subjugate  such  countries  as  Mexico;  the  lights  of  the  age 


*  There  were  very  few,  and  they  were  of  the  Indian  race. 


are  two  widely  diffused,  the  population  too  numerous;  and 
any  power  which  might  acquire  an  ascendancy,  would  have 
to  adopt  the  forms  of  government,  as  well  as  the  habits  of 
thinking  and  of  acting,  which  prevail  in  the  country :  indeed 
a  pretty  decided  proof  of  this  has  been  given  in  the  fruitless 
attempt  of  Iturbide,  (who  was  certainly  a  distinguished,  a 
gallant,  and  a  brave  man)  and  in  his  unfortunate  endeavour 
to  imitate  Napoleon's  return  from  Elba,  although  it  rather 
resembled  the  affair  of  the  courageous  but  rash  Murat ;  he 
lost  his  life  in  a  way  and  from  causes  not  well  understood  in 
this  country,  and  his  fate  will  be  a  warning  to  others  for  a 
long  time.  Still  I  am  far  from  being  Utopian  or  enthusiastic 
enough  to  say  that  the  official  organs  or  the  details  of 
government  cannot  be  changed  by  powerful  invasion,  as 
sisted  by  a  faction  in  the  country,  rendering  the  army  or 
the  magistracy  too  strong  to  be  reconcilable  with  our  ideas 
of  republican  government,  and  too  formidable  to  the  neigh 
bouring  nations.  It  is  to  guard  against  the  possibility  that  my 
arguments  run.  I  think  nevertheless  that  any  such  conque 
rors,  if  they  may  be  so  called,  will  be  obliged  to  conform  to 
the  popular  sentiment — a  sentiment  which  will  be  inflected 
however  much  as  possible,  in  all  the  great  leading  maxims 
of  government ;  and  nothing  like  absolute  power  can  exist ; 
it  could  not  exist  without  a  calm  and  deliberate  legislative 
and  popular  surrender  of  the  popular  rights,  such  as  took 
place  in  Denmark  in  the  last  century,  a  thing  utterly  impro 
bable,  after  all  that  has  passed.  An  objection  may  be  made 
that  the  mass  of  the  people  is  very  uneducated,  has  in  fact 
not  been  the  decided  and  active  agent  in  the  revolution, 
except  a  portion  of  it  followed  some  leaders  to  the  field 
from  mere  personal  attachment  or  induced  by  prospect  of 
gain,  and  that  these  are  proved  by  the  shouts  it  has  bestowed 
almost  equally  upon  royalists  or  patriots  as  either  was  trium 
phant,  which  shews  that  it  has  not  yet  a  decided  public  sen 
timent.  But  public  sentiment  is  in  all  countries  the  opinions 
and  the  impulse  given  by  the  aristocracy,  if  I  may  be  allow 
ed  the  expression,  of  activity,  talent,  education,  and  influence. 
In  Mexico,  to  their  glory  be  it  spoken,  this  aristocracy,  and 
that  which  is  composed  of  wealth  and  rank  in  society,  as 
well  as  the  magistracy  and  military,  have  generally  taken  up 


53 

and  propagated  liberal  ideas ;  they  have  espoused  the  peo 
ple's  cause,  and  have  set  to  work  in  earnest  to  qualify  the 
mass  by  education  and  instruction  to  understand,  appreciate, 
enjoy,  and  perpetuate  the  principles  of  freedom. 

But  let  us  suppose  for  a  moment  that  a  popular  and  pow 
erful  brave  man  of  talents  were  to  arise  there,  who  had  the 
ambition  to  set  himself  at  the  head  of  the  government,  recast 
in  the  strongest  shape  which  the  prejudices  of  the  people 
would  admit,  with  a  title  for  the  chief  magistracy  new  or  of 
undefined  import  to  the  ears  of  the  descendants  of  the  Euro 
pean  race,  such  as  cacique,  inca,  principal,  or  any  other — for 
as  I  have  before  said,  it  is  not  the  name  but  the  spirit  of  the 
magistracy  which  makes  a  difference  in  the  form  of  govern 
ment,  and  Cromwell  was  as  despotic  with  his  title  of  protec 
tor  as  he  would  have  been  with  that  of  emperor — suppose  his 
project  be  to  perpetuate  his  dynasty  by  means  of  elections 
by  a  conservative  senate,  the  members  of  which  are  appoint 
ed  by  himself  and  his  successors,  or  who  are  susceptible  of 
appointments  to  offices  at  his  gift  or  are  under  his  influence 
by  any  of  the  thousand  modes  which  ambition  would  devise; 
suppose  he  commences  by  the  stale  trick,  older  than  the  age 
of  Pericles,  of  exciting  discontent  and  feeble  attacks  upon  the 
person  of  the  executive,  and  demands,  what  could  scarcely 
be  refused  under  such  circumstances,  a  faithful  and  well  paid 
guard  to  defend  his  person  and  to  carry  into  effect  the  ordi 
nances  of  the  legislature ;  suppose  that  he  enter  into  com 
munication  with  some  European  power  which  would  be 
disposed  to  assist  in  raising  up  a  monarchical  form  of  go 
vernment  in  this  hemisphere  and  which  would  furnish  him 
with  supplies  of  treasure.  What  then  would  be  the  effec 
tual  defence  of  republican  institutions  in  that  country;  and, 
if  they  should  be  subverted,  what  would  be  our  condition 
in  relation  to  a  strong,  armed,  and  ambitious  government, 
upon  our  borders,  with  an  army  demanding  occupation  and 
employment  9  We  should  have  to  fight,  and  we  are  able  to 
do  so,  is  the  immediate  answer  of  a  young  man.  Agreed ; 
he  has  good  health,  a  good  horse,  a  sword,  and  a  cloak,  can 
raise  a  legion,  and  would  be  one  of  the  combatants;  but 
he  will  grow  old ;  and  then  9  Why  the  fact  is  that  this 
H 


64 

business  of  fighting  is  a  bad  affair  at  best.  Besides,  we  all 
profess  to  be  attached  to  republican  government;  and  yet  a 
large  army,  which  we  must  have  to  make  war  upon  a  neigh 
bouring  nation,  is  the  most  dangerous  enemy  to  republics; 
large  armies  have  always  been  the  destruction  of  republics : 
they  would  cease  fighting  at  some  time  or  other;  and  how 
are  they  to  be  disbanded1?  If  they  are  strong  and  led  by  a 
man  of  talents — none  other  would  be  competent  to  encoun 
ter  our  enemies — they  would  not  permit  themselves  to  be 
disbanded:  "find  me  the  men  and  I  will  find  money  to  pay 
them,"  is  said  to  have  been  the  answer  of  a  distinguished 
officer  to  a  similar  question.  What  becomes  of  our  repub 
lican  government,  what  of  our  institutions,  in  that  case  *? 
Fighting  is  the  ultima  ratio;  and  it  ought  to  be  the  very  last : 
it  is  an  argument  which  exhausts,  and  so  produces  a  tempo 
rary  cessation  of  the  dispute ;  but  it  never  convinces,  and  it 
leaves  behind  the  germs  of  future  discussions  of  the  same 
kind;  or  at  least  it  excites  antipathies,  resentments,  rivalship, 
and  a  thousand  rancorous  sentiments  which  break  out  in 
new  aggressions  and  fresh  hostilities,  as  soon  as  either  na 
tion  which  has  been  engaged  thinks  itself  strong  enough  to 
recommence  a  war.  Therefore  it  is  infinitely  better  to  pre 
vent  the  origination,  the  birth,  of  such  feelings,  to  anticipate 
by  a  prudent  and  harmonious  policy,  the  possibility  of  inimi 
cal  proceedings ;  instead  of  relying  upon  the  old  method  of 
burning  towns,  and  of  putting  to  death  some  thousands  of 
our  species,  in  order  to  persuade  the  survivors  into  measures 
that  we  wish. 

At  no  period  of  history  down  to  the  present  time  has  there 
been  a  perfectly  clear  opportunity  of  carrying  into  effect  the 
pious  and  truly  political  principle  of  peace ;  because  never 
before  has  there  been  an  instance  of  a  whole  continent  inha 
bited  by  nations  without  previous  prejudices  against  one  ano 
ther,  without  rivalship,  and  without  causes  of  mutual  offence. 
The  spectacle  of  an  entire  quarter  of  the  globe  in  absolute 
harmony  has  never  before  been  exhibited;  and  if  this  beau 
tiful  picture  could  be  perpetuated,  human  virtue  would  have 
gained  over  human  passions  a  victory,  whose  reward  would 
be  the  eternal  applause  of  all  the  good  and  great. 


Mexico  is  the  most  important  nation  to  us  in  projecting 
such  a  system ;  because,  being  our  next  neighbour,  there  is 
the  most  probability  of  our  coming  into  collision  with  her ; 
and  with  her  is  dissension  most  to  be  deprecated.  It  is  with 
nations  as  with  individuals  ;  if  they  stand  upon  punctilio,  if 
they  are  watchful  for  any  unintentional  want  of  etiquette, 
they  will  have  abundant  causes  of  discord  ;  but  if  they  are 
bound  together  by  ties  of  interest  and  of  close  friendship, 
mutually  respecting  one  another,  and  mutually  attached  by 
sympathy  and  feeling,  neither  expecting  slights,  and  neither 
wishing  to  elevate  its  own  reputation  at  the  expense  of  the 
other,  they  would  not  be  apt  to  quarrel ;  this  is  the  expe 
rience  of  the  world,  which  is  and  will  be  pretty  much  the 
same  at  every  epoch.  That  frank  and  generous  intercourse 
which  arises  out  of  respect  for  our  companions  and  con 
sciousness  of  meriting  theirs,  from  a  consciousness  of  cou 
rage  and  of  strength  without  a  vain  glorious  desire  of  exhi 
biting  them  (often  occasioned  by  a  little  internal  voice  which 
whispers  that  they  are  not  so  great  as  they  are  proclaimed), 
and  the  intercourse  of  a  liberal  and  manly  disposition  with 
those  whose  pretensions  to  the  same  characteristics  are  not 
disputed,  very  seldom  are  broken  by  the  contests  which  oc 
cur  between  persons  of  different  qualities :  when  such  mas 
culine  characters  do  quarrel,  it  is  generally  about  some 
irreconcilable  interests,  and  they  are  infinitely  the  most 
dangerous  enemies,  as  they  are  the  most  valuable  friends. 
Nations  being  only  societies  of  individuals,  national  charac 
teristics  are  those  of  the  majority  of  the  most  influential  of 
the  individuals  who  compose  the  society ;  and  therefore  almost 
all  arguments  which  apply  to  individuals  or  to  individual 
conduct,  are  equally  applicable,  but  on  a  grander  scale,  to 
nations  at  large. 

The  government  of  Mexico  seems  to  be  now  quite  as  much 
consolidated  as  ours  was  at  the  same  or  even  a  greater  dis 
tance  of  time  from  our  declaration  of  independence :  it  ex 
hibits  all  the  indications  of  solidity,  and  its  machinery  appears 
to  work  with  the  regularity  of  a  settled  establishment.  In 
so  new  and  so  extensive  a  nation,  some  tumults  or  some  local 
opposition  to  the  laws  are  to  be  expected;  but  they  will 


so 

probably  be  no  more  than  temporary  effervescences,  to  be 
repressed  withput  much  difficulty  by  the  ordinary  powers  of 
the  police,  or  at  worst  by  the  intervention  of  a  small  armed 
force;  they  will  resemble  the  circles  formed  by  some  falling 
body  upon  the  surface  of  a  tranquil  lake,  which  subside  with 
out  disturbing  the  deep  repose  of  the  waters,  and  we  have 
hardly  to  fear  that  tempestuous  waves  will  again  be  thrown 
up  by  passionate  hurricanes  to  threaten  the  safety  of  the 
barque  of  state.  The  people  are  fatigued  and  exhausted  by 
the  long  sufferings  of  the  revolutionary  contest ;  the  fortunes 
of  their  great  men  are  diminished ;  the  number  of  their  lea 
ders  is  decreased;  every  thing  demands  repose;  and  before 
the  body  politic  has  recovered  from  the  effects  of  what  has 
passed,  and  before  it  has  so  far  forgotten  the  calamities  of 
civil  discord,  as  to  render  it  liable  to  fresh  excitement,  a 
generation  will  have  elapsed,  the  measures  now  adopted  for 
popular  instruction  will  have  operated,  and  the  principles  of^ 
civil  liberty  will  have  been  deeply  enracinated,  will  have 
obtained  a  maturity  which  will  enable  them  to  defy  most  of 
the  storms  that  can  assail  them.  Nor  is  this  calculating  too 
largely  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  Mexican  nation ;  the 
nation  which  was  susceptible  of  the  school  of  mines,  which 
has  furnished  the  world  with  the  greater  part  of  its  circulat 
ing  specie,  where  the  desague  Hucbuctoca  was  excavated, 
where  the  immense  labours  near  Acapulco  were  executed, 
where  a  republic  has  arisen  upon  the  debris  and  ashes  of  a 
despotic  colonial  servitude,  where  the  prejudices  and  antipa 
thies,  sedulously  cultivated  for  ages,  against  the  oppressed 
aborigines  have  been  surmounted,  where  that  too  long  de 
graded  race  has  been  magnanimously  elevated  from  its  pros 
tration,  restored  to  its  due  consideration  among  mankind, 
and  raised  to  the  level  of  a  constituent  portion  of  the  com 
monwealth — such  a  nation,  so  gallant  in  war,  so  generous  in 
peace,  calls  forth  the  highest  expectations  of  its  destinies,  the 
largest  calculations  upon  its  talents  and  its  intelligence. 

It  is  sufficiently  evident  that  until  education  (in  which 
term  are  included  not  merely  reading  and  writing  but  also 
information  upon  the  arts  of  civilization)  is  more  generally 
extended  in  Mexico,  the  higher  classes  of  society,  which  are 


57 

educated  or  instructed,  will  be  elevated  to  a  distance  more 
removed  from  the  mass  of  the  population  than  is  compatible 
with  the  principles  of  genuine  republicanism;  for  in  my 
opinion  the  essence  of  those  principles  is  the  elevation  of 
the  mass  of  the  people  to  a  level  with  the  rich  by  diffusing 
among  them  equal  lights,  thus  enabling  and  teaching  them 
to  take  advantage  of  the  resources  of  the  country;  when 
this  diffusion  becomes  universal  in  a  nation  the  people  will 
be  all  nearly  as  equal  as  the  infirmity  of  our  nature  permits; 
no  disparity  will  then  exist,  except  that  which  Heaven  cre 
ates  in  forming  some  men  without  talents  enough  to  profit 
of  instruction  or  with  too  much  indolence  to  do  so,  or  finally 
that  which  arises  from  the  vicious  disposition  of  bad  men. 
Until  instruction  becomes  general  in  Mexico  the  educated 
men  there  will  have  great  advantages  over  those  who  are 
destitute  of  education,  and  fortune  is  the  apanage  of  instruc 
tion  and  talent.  Those  who  are  rich,  and  those  who  belong 
to  rich  or  to  educated  families,  will  naturally  desire  to  in 
crease  their  fortunes.  Without  this  instinctive  desire  for 
acquisition  and  preservation  of  property,  wisely  implanted 
in  our  breasts  by  divine  providence,  mankind  would  be  little 
better  than  the  brute  creation,  indifferent  about  tomorrow 
and  generally  without  an  impulse  for  distinction  or  for  im 
provement  of  their  condition.  But  this  very  desire  of  the 
rich  to  retain  or  to  improve  their  property,  and  of  the  in 
structed  to  acquire,  is  an  additional  guaranty  to  the  stability 
of  the  government;  they  must  know  from  the  slightest  reflec 
tion  that  their  interest  imperiously  demands  public  tranquil 
lity  for  some  years,  and  will  of  course  exert  themselves,  now 
that  the  first  tempest  of  passion  is  passed,  to  preserve  tran 
quillity  :  individual  ambition  is  the  only  emotion  which  can  at 
present  interfere  with  the  domestic  peace ;  and  if  there  be 
the  amount  of  intelligence  in  the  nation  which  I  attribute  to 
it,  the  influential  members  of  the  community  will  interpose 
to  repress  it. 

Among  the  incidents  which  accumulate  the  guaranties  of 
the  stability  of  the  government,  the  national  debt  must  not 
be  forgotten.  The  exact  amount  of  it  is  not  accurately 
known  to  me,  as  I  hesitate  to  adopt  any  data  of  whose 


58 

general  correctness  I  am  not  satisfied  ;  in  forming  that  idea 
I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  have  taken  the  greatest  pains  to 
avoid  error.  I  have  no  estimates  of  the  present  state  of  the 
Mexican  finances  upon  which  I  entirely  depend ;  the  debt 
however  is  large*.  The  security  to  the  government  afforded 
by  the  debt  is  a  blessing  which  arises  out  of  an  inconve 
nience.  If  all  the  debt  were  due  to  the  inhabitants,  the  in 
ternal  tranquillity  would  be  additionally  increased;  but  on 
the  other  hand  that  part  of  it  which  is  owing  to  foreigners  is 
in  fact  so  much  money  appropriated  to  purchasing  the  in 
terest  of  their  sovereigns  in  the  durability  of  the  Mexican 
government.  If  a  person  has  an  insurance  upon  a  life,  we 
may  be  very  sure  that  he  will  not  attempt  its  destruction,  and 
that  he  will  defend  it  from  the  attacks  of  others.  Nor  is  this 
position  at  variance  with  what 'has  been  before  advanced,  that 
interest  does  not  alone  and  exclusively  govern  the  human 
race.  I  believe,  that  men  are  more  governed  by  tempo 
rary  impulses  or  passion,  than  by  mere  interest;  nevertheless 
when  an  interest  is  plain,  not  contradicted  or  diverted  by  an 
opposite  interest,  it  certainly  tends  greatly  to  restrain  the 
impulse  of  the  moment,  and  to  moderate  passion.  The  fears 
of  the  creditors  of  a  nation  for  the  safety  of  their  debts  is  one 
of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  its  government ;  they  will  recol 
lect  that  Frederic  the  great  sequestered  the  Prussian  debt 
to  English  merchants  in  order  to-  retaliate  upon  England 
some  aggressions  upon  his  commerce,  and  they  will  recall  to 
mind  several  other  instances  of  the  sort  upon  record  ;  they 
will  fear  that  if  a  government  be  entirely  swept  away,  the 
power  which  succeeds  it,  in  order  to  disentangle  itself  from  a 
heavy  incumbrance,  in  order  to  have  large  funds  at  its  dispo 
sal,  and  in  order  to  acquire  that  short  lived  popularity  which 
is  created  by  a  pretended  economy,  will  be  disposed  to  ques 
tion  the  policy  and  the  validity  of  the  contracts  entered  into 
by  its  predecessors  ;  they  will  apprehend  the  efficacy  of  the 


*  Mr  Poinsett  estimated  it  in  1822  at  sixty-one  millions;  but  large  additions  to 
it  have  been  since  made,  without  considering,  as  we  might  fairly,  the  sums  in 
vested  in  the  mining  establishments  by  foreign  capitalists.  See  Notes  on  Mex 
ico,  p.  106. 


59 

principle  that  national  engagements  made  by  a  sovereign  de 
facto  are  obligatory  on  the  nation  under  any  form  of  govern 
ment  and  under  any  actual  sovereigns.  The  proof  of  this  is 
found  in  the  market  prices  of  government  stocks,  which  fluc 
tuate  according  to  every  rumour  of  domestic  agitation  or  of 
disturbance  in  foreign  relations.  Hence  the  debts  of  the 
Mexican  government  due  to  its  citizens  will  induce  them  to 
oppose  any  thing  which  tends  to  a  radical  change  of  system, 
and  what  is  due  to  foreigners  will  secure  all  their  influence 
over  their  own  rulers  to  countenance  the  actual  state  of 
things;  an  influence  whose  extent  will  be  bounded  only  by 
the  proportion  between  the  weight  of  those  foreign  creditors 
in  their  own  country,  and  whatsoever  force  other  persons 
may  have  who  are  interested  in  an  opposite  line  of  conduct. 
Every  additional  sum  of  debt  gains  an  additional  adherent 
to  the  government.  I  must  not  be  understood  however  here 
to  recommend  the  policy  of  overwhelming  a  nation  with  debt; 
such  an  interpretation  would  be  equal  to  supposing  a  quart  of 
laudanum  is  meant  when  ten  drops  are  prescribed ;  this  is  a 
medicine  designed  only  for  cases  when  the  human  body  is 
diseased,  and  debt  is  an  application  proper  for  a  nation  only 
when  the  body  politic  is  in  a  state  requiring  extraordinary 
remedies  ;  neither  the  one  expedient  nor  the  other  is  to  be 
tampered  with,  and  either  is  to  be  avoided,  except  in  extreme 
cases  ;  but  it  is  the  same  with  respect  to  debt  as  medicine, 
poisons  in  themselves,  a  judicious  use  of  them  in  necessary 
cases  may  produce  good  effects. 

So  that,  upon  the  whole,  I  see  no  reason  to  anticipate 
fresh  convulsions  in  Mexico  for  a  considerable  time,  or  at 
least  I  do  not  anticipate  any  of  a  very  formidable  nature ; 
and  I  consider  the  government  as  permanently  established 
as  any  other  of  its  cast,  always  excepting  the  problematical 
interposition  to  which  I  have  previously  alluded. 

Mexico  must  always  possess  a  great  predominance  over 
the  Hispano- American  states;  she  was  the  colony  which 
attracted  the  greatest  attention  of  the  mother  country ;  her 
viceroyalty  was  more  splendid  than  the  others,  was  a  more 
striking  personification  of  the  metropolitan  sovereign;  she 


60 

added  the  name  of  a  kingdom  to  the  long  roll  of  the  titles 
of  the  Spanish  monarch ;  part  of  the  revenue  she  afforded, 
went  directly  to  the  support  of  some  others  of  the  American 
possessions  of  Spain :  these  things  must  have  an  effect  upon 
ancient  prejudices ;  and  at  present  her  greatly  superior  popu 
lation,  revenue,  wealth,  resources,  and  strength,  must  give 
her  a  decided  ascendancy ;  so  that,  if  her  government  ,be 
administered  with  only  ordinary  prudence,  policy,  and  mo 
deration,  her  influence  over  the  other  cidevant  colonies  must 
infallibly  be  very  great.  Her  example  is  therefore  of  vast 
importance :  if  she  adopts  a  monarchical  form  of  government, 
a  precedent  will  be  given  which  will  be  much  respected,  and 
which  can  scarcely  fail  to  find  imitators ;  if,  on  the  contrary, 
she  adheres  to  a  republican  form,  it  will  afford  a  cogent  argu 
ment  for  the  liberal  in  the  other  Hispano  American  countries. 
A  question  of  serious  consequence  to  us  is,  whether  Mexico 
will  ever  become  a  great  shipping  power.  That  she  will  be  a 
commercial  power  of  the  first  order  is  unquestionable ;  the  soil 
which  produces  cocoa,  coffee,  vanilla,  cochineal,  dye  and  fur 
niture  woods,  sugar,  grapes,  cerealea,  cotton,  and  vast  amounts 
of  the  precious  metals,  which  supplies,  or  is  capable  of  sup 
plying  the  staples  of  the  tropical  regions,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  most  favoured  among  the  temperate  climates,  can  not  fail 
to  attract  the  merchants  and  the  merchandize  of  the  whole 
world;  her  silver  has  constituted'  by  far  the  largest  part  of 
the  plate  and  specie  of  Europe,  and  a  great  deal  of  that  of 
Asia,  since  the  first  discovery  of  the  southern  continent,  and 
this  article  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  make  her  the  ren 
dezvous  of  commerce.  But  will  she  possess  a  large  amount 
of  commercial  shipping,  and  will  she  carry  for  herself  9  The 
question  can  not  easily  be  answered  as  yet;  nor  until  the 
radical  and  wonderful  change  in  her  political  situation,  do 
mestic  and  external,  shall  have  wrought  its  inevitable  conse 
quences  upon  the  character  of  her  population,  and  until  the 
effects  of  so  many  and  of  such  vast  causes  be  thoroughly 
developed.  During  her  colonial  subjection  maritime  enter 
prises  were  forbidden  to  her  by  every  restriction  which  the 
most  watchful  jealousy  could  devise ;  since  the  revolution, 


61 

she  has  been  constantly  occupied  in  contending  for  her 
emancipation,  or  in  arranging  her  internal  affairs;  nor  has 
there  been  time  for  her  previous  habits  to  be  altered.  Whe 
ther  her  inhabitants  ever  will  have  a  taste  for  navigation  is 
doubtful ;  because  the  great  majority  of  them  reside  upon 
the  elevated  land,  which  is  remote  from  the  Atlantic.  The 
region  which  skirts  the  gulf  of  Mexico  has  the  reputa 
tion  of  being  very  sickly,  and  this  reputation  appears  to 
be  too  well  founded.  It  is  almost  impossible  that  large 
towns  can  exist  in  a  malignant  climate,  and  large  towns 
accessible  from  the  sea  are  invariably  either  the  causes  or 
the  consequences  of  a  great  amount  of  shipping.  Besides, 
it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  a  large  number  of  vessels 
can  be  built  in  sickly  regions,  because  their  mere  con 
struction  necessarily  concentrates  numerous  workmen,  and 
their  families.  We  can  not  estimate  the  effects  which  may 
be  produced  by  future  improvement  of  the  country,  cut 
ting  down  the  forests,  and  agriculture ;  but  these,  if  they 
ever  take  place  on  the  coast,  must  be  the  work  of  ages,  for 
the  work  cannot  be  commenced  on  the  sea  side;  that  is  the 
focus  of  the  bad  air;  it  will  have  to  be  a  gradual  progress  by 
working  downwards  from  the  inland  heights  towards  the 
sea;  yet  every  step  made  from  the  heights  brings  the  la 
bourer  into  the  infectious  district,  with  the  disadvantage 
that  the  volume  of  bad  air  lies  concentrated  in,  and  spreads 
from,  the  flat  lands  and  the  forests  between  him  and  the  sea, 
while  he  cannot  attack  the  evil  in  its  source  without  a  cer 
tainty  of  loss  of  health,  nor  can  he  attack  the  outskirts  of  it 
without  approaching,  with  some  risk,  that  mass  of  vapour 
and  of  miasmata,  whose  cause  is,  to  use  the  expression,  inac 
cessible  to  him.  It  might  be  different  if  the  rivers  which 
make  into  the  gulf  were  adapted  to  navigation ;  but  their 
estuaries,  or  all  that  part  of  them  which  could  otherwise  be 
navigated,  lie  within  the  insalubrious  district;  when  they  pe 
netrate  deeper  into  the  country  their  beds  partake  of  the 
elevation  which  so  remarkably  distinguishes  the  interior 
from  the  sea  bord.  If  it  were  not  for  the  climate,  Vera  Cruz 
now  containing  only  6000  or  7000  inhabitants,  would  be  one 
of  the  largest  cities  known ;  and  yet.  the  universal  movement 
I 


62 

from  Tampico  to  VeraCruz,  after  the  castle  was  taken,  proves 
the  latter  to  be  the  best  port  on  the  coast. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  produce  of  the  soil  and  of  the  mines 
will  enable  the  Mexicans  to  buy  ships,  if  there  be  a  difficulty 
in  building  them.  On  the  other  hand  if  the  ships  are  owned 
there  they  must  often  lie  in  port  for  considerable  time,  while 
their  crews  are  liable  to  all  the  atmospheric  influence,  with 
that  danger  enhanced  by  their  constitutions  having  been 
divorced  from  their  native  climate  by  voyages  to  northern 
latitudes,  wherein  far  the  greater  portion  of  their  commerce 
is  demanded.  In  short,  unless  the  information  we  have  about 
the  climate  be  most  egregiously  incorrect,  or  unless  changes 
are  effected  which  seem  to  be  forbidden  by  nature,  I  do  not 
see  how  Mexico  can  be  a  large  ship  owner  on  her  Atlantic 
coast.  We  are  told  that  the  shores  on  the  Pacific  bord  are 
more  healthy;  and  from  the  configuration  of  the  territory  a 
considerable  coasting  trade  must  be  carried  on  there,  espe 
cially  after  California  becomes  well  settled.  The  coasting 
trade  is  the  nurse  of  maritime  enterprise ;  and  the  demand 
for  silver  in  eastern  Asia,  as  well  as  for  several  of  her  staples 
in  the  archipelagos  of  islands  near  the  Asiatic  coast,  will  be 
a  strong  inducement  .for  great  navigation  there;  indeed  it 
seems  highly  probable  that  Mexico  will  be  able  to  trade 
from  her  western  coasts  to  China,  Hindostan,  and  the  islands, 
with  so  many  advantages,  such  as  cheapness  of  silver,  low 
price  of  provisions  for  crews,  saving  of  distance  and  time, 
as  well  as  avoiding  the  risk  of  doubling  cape  Horn  or  the 
cape  of  Good  Hope,  that  she  will  supplant  the  European 
and  North  American  commerce  with  those  countries,  becom 
ing  herself  the  great  India  trader  and  the  entrepot  of  that 
trade  which  will  be  transported  across  from  the  Pacific  to 
the  gulf  coast,  while  the  rest  of  the  world  will  go  to  her  to 
receive  teas,  silks,  and  fine  muslins.  If  her  inhabitants 
take  an  inclination  for  navigation  this  will  probably  be  the 
consequence.  The  opinion  is  justifiable  that  Mexico  will  be 
a  maritime  power  on  the  Pacific,  but  that  her  trade  with 
Europe,  North  America,  and  all  the  Atlantic  ports,  will  be 
carried  in  the  vessels  of  other  nations. 

What  other  nations'?     What  nation  will  be  her  chief  car- 


63 

rier*  *?  This  is  the  all  important  point.  Each  nation  will 
participate  in  the  trade ;  but  England  has  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  ships,  can  navigate  at  least  freight,  and  will  strain 
every  sinew  to  engross  it.  One  of  the  greatest  objects  I  have 
in  view  when  advocating  the  American  system,  is  to  ena 
ble  us  to  compete  with  England  on  this  point,  and  to  secure 
to  ourselves  a  large  portion  of  what  promises  to  be  the  most 
lucrative  commerce  ever  known,  by  conciliating  the  affec 
tion  of  the  people  to  whom  we  are  connected  by  a  thousand 
ties  of  major  interest. 

After  discussing  the  question  whether  Mexico  will  have  a 
large  commercial  marine,  the  next  desideratum  is  to  ascer 
tain  whether  she  will  possess  a  powerful  military  marine. 
If  the  position  be  correct  that  ship  yards  for  merchant  ves 
sels  can  not  safely  be  established  on  the  gulf  coast,  it  follows 
with  double  certainty  that  naval  depots,  or  places  of  construc 
tion,  can  not  be  located  in  this  quarter  for  men  of  war;  be 
cause  they  require  much  larger  congregations  of  workmen;  if 
the  inference  be  right  that  the  Pacific  coast  will  be  the  site  of 
her  mercantile  building  yards,  it  follows  that  her  fleets  will 
be  constructed  there.  But  it  is  not  enough  that  her  build 
ing  position  be  ascertained ;  in  order  to  bear  upon  her  rela 
tions  with  the  nations  which  border  the  Atlantic,  she  must 
have  some  port  on  this  ocean  for  refuge,  for  refreshment,  and 
for  repair:  otherwise,  however  powerful  she  may  be  in  the 
western  seas,  she  will  be  a  zero  in  the  great  scale  of  Euro 
pean  and  North  American  maritime  polities,  as  far  as  force 
is  concerned.  Where  will  that  port  be  9  Her  relations  with 
Columbia  will  perhaps  afford  her  such  a  harbour.  If  Cuba 
should  cease  to  belong  to  an  European  power  a  naval  sta 
tion  on  that  island  would  be  much  more  convenient.  The 
other  islands  are  too  small  to  sustain  a  population  sufficient 
for  defending  a  post  of  such  importance.  Besides  a  fleet  at 
Cuba  would  occupy  a  position  analogous  to  a  tete  de  pont 


*  See  Niles'  Register,  7th  of  April  1827,  where  the  whole  number  of  foreign 
vessels  entering  her  ports  is  called  641,  of  which  those  of  the  United  States  are 
said  to  be  399. 


64 

in  army  tactics,  it  would  defend  a  vanguard  post,  and  seal 
the  entrance  to  the  gulf.  If  a  port  should  be  found  in  our 
territory  of  Florida  capable  of  receiving  fleets  of  line  of  battle 
ships,  that,  or  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  would  be  the  next 
best;  and  these  could  not  be  used  by  Mexico  in  time  of  war, 
without  compromising  our  neutrality.  Her  fleets  would  not 
only  protect  herself,  but  in  case  of  necessity,  would  be  im 
portant  to  the  security  of  our  gulf  frontier.  Therefore  inti 
mate  relations  with  her  which  would  authorize  our  permitting 
her  the  use  of  our  harbours  would  not  be  advantageous  to 
her  alone;  we  should  ourselves  derive  great  advantages  from 
them. 

It  will  be  impossible  for  Mexico  to  be  a  great  naval  power 
unless  she  builds  her  own  ships;  she  may  form  a  nucleus 
for  her  future  fleets  by  purchasing  vessels  abroad  at  first; 
but  all  history  shews  us  that  no  nation  has  been  formidable 
at  sea,  which  depended  exclusively  upon  foreigners  to  sup 
ply  her  with  ships.  If  therefore  my  data  are  correct,  Mex 
ico  cannot  be  a  strong  maritime  power  unless  she  builds 
upon  the  Pacific,  and  possesses  a  safe  harbour  upon  the  At 
lantic  ;  which  harbour  she  must  acquire  either  by  intimate 
connection  with  another  nation,  or  by  conquest.  The  for 
mer  is  the  better  alternative,  and  my  hope  is  that  we  shall 
afford  it  to  her,  for  our  own  sake,  as  well  as  for  hers.  There 
are  few  things  more  desirable  for  us  than  that  Mexico 
should  have  a  strong  navy;  united  to  our  own,  a  power 
would  be  presented  to  foreign  nations,  which  they  would 
hesitate  to  outrage ;  whereas  a  long  period  will  elapse  be 
fore  our  navy  will  be  numerous  enough  to  cope  with  that  of 
the  great  maritime  powers  of  Europe,  without  alliances 
with  other  nations,  and  conjunction  of  theirs  with  our  fleet. 
Mexico  will  not  be  a  dangerous  competitor  for  us,  because 
of  the  disadvantage  (if  what  has  been  said  be  true)  of  her 
centre  of  maritime  strength  being  on  the  western  ocean;  and 
it  wfH  be  very  long  before  her  navy  rivals  even  the  present 
number  of  ours. 

The  next  point  of  view  in  which  Mexico  is  to  be  consi 
dered,  is  in  respect  to  manufactures.  She  is  already  a  great 
manufacturer :  we  justly  consider  our  iron  works  as  a  most 


65 

important  branch  of  our  manufacturing  interests;  but  she  is 
a  metal  manufacturer  to  a  much  larger  amount ;  as  is  evident, 
from  her  coinage  alone,  which  was  in  1809  $26,172,982  at 
the  mint  in  the  city  of  Mexico  and  $1,500,000  at  other 
mints*  ;  it  is  better  proved  by  the  amount  produced  from 
the  years  1492  to  1803,  which  was  $2,028,000,000  ;  of  which 
from  1690  to  1800  $l,353,452,020f.  Can  a  country,  that 
has  worked  up  such  a  value  in  a  single  article,  be  supposed 
an  insignificant  manufacturer  9  Again,  the  value  of  manu 
factured  tobacco  was  in  1802  $7,686,834:  the  total  value  of 
manufactures  in  the  same  year  is  given  by  the  author  I  quote, 
who  generally  appears  to  have  taken  the  data  from  baron 
Humboldt,  at  eight  millions  of  dollars  ;  although  I  do  not 
clearly  understand  how  this  amount  is  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  statements  of  the  amounts  manufactured  in  several  pro 
vinces,  nor  with  the  details  of  wine  and  brandies  of  different 
kinds,  nor  with  the  table  of  exports  he  gives  a  few  pages 
previously,  most  of  which  necessarily  undergo  some  degree 
of  manufacturing,  as  even  the  agricultural  producef,  could 
not  be  exported  without  it;  still  less  do  I  coincide  with  him 
— although  I  feel  it  to  be  a  prima  facie  evidence  of  error  to 
differ  from  that  accomplished  gentleman — when  he  computes 
the  manufactures  to  have  diminished  one  half  in  consequence 
of  the  war;  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  diminution  of  the 
metallic  production,  but  of  the  others  I  hesitate.  It  is  much 
to  be  regretted  that  we  have  not  official  statements  of  the 
actual  condition  of  affairs.  The  immediate  clothing,  and 
other  articles  of  household  consumption,  for  the  use  of  the 
body  of  the  people  in  every  nation  must  always  be  the  pro 
duction  of  household  or  village  industry ;  since  no  nation  upon 
earth  could  purchase  them  from  abroad,  they  must  be  made 
upon  the  spot.  For  example,  we  imported  during  the  year 
1825  $11,392,264$  worth  of  woollen  cloth,  when  we  had  at 
least  eleven  millions  of  inhabitants ;  now  the  consumption  of 


*  Notes  on  Mexico  in  the  Autumn  of  1822,  pp.  104,  105,  by  Mr  Poinsett. 

t  Ibid.  p.  174  From  Humboldt,  I  believe. 

j  Ibid.  pp.  96.  98. 100.  102.  §  Vide  Treasury  Report. 


66 

woollens  averages  for  man,  woman,  and  child,  at  least  five 
dollars  per  annum,  which  will  make  fifty-five  millions  value  of 
cloth  of  one  kind  or  other  made  of  wool :  the  same  reasoning 
applies  to  every  country  and  every  article,  and  shews  that  uni 
versally  manufactures  must  exist  sufficient  for  the  ordinary 
wants  of  the  mass  of  the  people,  however  moderate  those 
wants  may  be,  in  consequence  of  the  state  of  civilization,  of 
their  customs,  or  of  the  climate.  But  in  every  country  fashion 
or  caprice  will  occasion,  among  the  rich  and  luxurious,  some 
demand  for  fine  articles  and  foreign  productions  ;  and  the 
only  way  in  which  we  may  feel  the  effect  of  manufacturing 
industry  in  Mexico,  is  by  her  making  up  things  which  inter 
fere  with  the  sale  of  those  that  we  prepare  for  exportation, 
or  which  can  be  sold  here  at  a  price  less  than  what  we  can 
make  them  at  for  our  own  consumption.  I  do  not  see  any 
cause  to  apprehend  either  of  these  contingencies  for  a  long 
time  in  any  of  the  manufactures  yet  established  among  us  : 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  so  evident  as  not  to  require  demonstra 
tion  that  Mexico  will  afford  a  market  for  many  of  the  articles 
we  now  manufacture  :  whether  we  or  England  are  to  supply 
her  is  a  different  question,  the  decision  of  which  I  think  will 
depend  in  great  measure  upon  the  course  adopted  with  re 
spect  to  the  grand  object  towards  which  the  arguments  in 
these  pages  are  directed.  The  distance  that  the  manufac 
tured  articles  will  have  to  be  carried  by  land  to  the  sea  bord 
will  always  operate  to  prevent  a  rivalship  with  us,  if  Mexico 
shall  hereafter  be  able  to  manufacture  much  cotton,  wool,  or 
leather,  the  only  items  I  observe  in  Mr  Poinsett's  notes  which 
are  likely  to  be  extensively  worked  upon  in  both  countries. 
If  the  accounts  we  have  of  the  scarcity  of  fuel  in  many  parts 
be  correct,  there  will  be  a  difficulty  in  the  establishment  of 
steam  works,  and  it  is  also  said  that  there  are  not  many  scites 
for  water  works :  if  these  accounts  be  true,  we  can  not  be 
competed  with  in  manufacturing,  at  least  for  export.  But 
there  are  so  many  articles  in  either  country  which  cannot  be 
procured  without  great  expense  in  the  other,  that  it  is  for  their 
mutual  interest  that  both  should  prosper  in  those  which  are 
appropriate  to  them,  since  they  would  then  be  better  able  to 
procure  what  they  want,  by  purchase  or  exchange,  and  what 


67 

can  be  supplied  from  the  work  shops  of  that  one  of  them 
which  is  best  able  to  answer  the  demand.  It  is  not  the 
actual  existence  of  dead  or  torpid  resources,  even  of  silver, 
which  constitutes  the  real  wealth  of  a  country  ;  it  is  the  active 
passing  of  those  resources  from  hand  to  hand  :  it  would  avail 
little  to  a  nation  that  the  people  should  eat  off  of  silver,  if  they 
wanted  clothing,  nor  would  lots  of  cloth  be  of  great  profit, 
if  they  wanted  bread  ;  it  is  the  facility  of  exchanging  the  one 
for  the  other,  the  ready  sale,  and  steady  demand,  which 
"  make  a  wilderness  to  blossom  like  the  rose."  The  United 
States  and  Mexico  should  therefore  from  interest,  as  well  as 
from  a  better  feeling,  desire  the  prosperity  of  one  another. 
I  do  not,  in  fine,  expect  competition  between  us  and  Mexico 
in  manufactures,  but  I  anticipate  that  the  increase  of  the 
means  of  either  will  give  an  ability  to  exchange  its  produc 
tions  advantageously  with  the  other. 

Agriculture  occupies  the  major  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
all  America.  Will  the  Mexican  agriculture  interfere  with 
ours  9  We  will  include  the  productions  of  the  forest  in  this, 
to  avoid  making  another  head,  for  it  is  quite  as  germaine  as 
stock  agriculture  to  simple  cultivation.  The  productions 
of  the  Mexican  soil  are  generally  so  different  from  those  of 
our  own,  that  I  do  not  see  in  them  any  prospect  of  rivalship. 
I  believe  that  she  has  live  oak,  and  she  has  mahogany  ;  these 
and  perhaps  some  other  woods  may  come  into  market  with 
our  ship  timber;  but  they  will  have  to  be  procured  within  the 
region  of  maladies;  and  the  present  price  of  such  timber  is  so 
large  that  our  shipping  interest  at  least  will  not  be  the  worse 
for  an  additional  supply  which  will  lessen  the  value  of 
the  article  ;  the  quantity  of  these  woods  is  so  limited,  they 
are  so  difficult  of  access  and  of  working,  that  we  need  not 
dread  too  great  an  influx  of  them  into  the  market,  to  injure 
those  who  own  forests  in  which  they  grow.  Her  other 
woods  are  only  exported  for  dyes  or  furniture ;  we  do  not 
possess  them,  except  some  sarsaparilla,  of  which  we  do  not 
supply  much.  Her  vanilla  and  cochineal  are  not  yet  intro 
duced  here.  She  will  no  doubt  be  able  to  grow  coffee  and 
sugar  for  exportation  ;  the  land  we  have  adapted  to  their  cul 
ture  is  circumscribed  within  narrow  bounds.  Provisions  and 


G8 

flour  will  be  consumed  by  her  increasing  population  in  a 
larger  ratio  than  by  ours,  because  she  already  has  more  in 
habitants  to  the  square  league  than  ourselves,  as  was  shewn 
above  ;  if  she  exports  them  to  Europe,  we  are  nearer  to  that 
market  by  a  thousand  miles  and  have  more  vessels  to  trans 
port  them.  She  only  exported  in  1802  $300,000*  ;  of  flour 
and  of  provisions  $100,000.  She  can  never  injure  our  grain 
market,  baron  Humboldt  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding, 
although  I  differ  from  any  remark  of  his  also,  however  casual, 
with  great  reluctance.  But  it  is  manifest  from  what  is  just 
said,  that  she  cannot  send  grain  to  Europe  as  cheaply  as  we 
do.  As  to  the  West  Indian  islands,  how  can  she  compete 
with  us  there  in  these  staples  9  what  can  they  give  her  in 
return  9  Not  sugar  or  tropical  productions  ;  she  will  raise 
them  in  such  quantity  herself  that  they  will  be  drugs  if  she 
brings  them  home,  and,  when  all  the  sugar  countries  come  into 
cultivation,  it  will  not  be  the  policy  of  her  merchants  to  add 
to  the  stock  abroad  by  taking  cargoes  from  the  islands  to  glut 
the  market,  when  she  has  so  much  of  her  own  to  sell;  not 
specie,  for  she  is  herself  the  mother  of  silver  (if  I  may  trans 
late  a  Spanish  term)  and  the  price  of  the  precious  metals 
must  be  such  in  her  territories  that  importation  of  it  will  be 
a  losing  concern.  The  staples  of  our  country  then,  will  not 
be  interfered  with  by  her  in  the  islands ;  she  has  so  many 
richer  productions  that  she  can  w,ell  dispense  with  the  expor 
tation  of  grain  and  provisions,  unless  to  some  of  the  South 
American  states  on  the  Pacific  ;  the  profit  awaiting  her  more 
important  productions  will  be  so  much  larger  that  her  chief 
attention  will  be  devoted  to  them,  and  they  are  so  different 
from  the  articles  we  raise,  that  they  can  create  no  uneasi 
ness  to  us.  To  sum  up,  the  produce  of  her  soil  instead  of 
being  an  impediment  to  the  vent  of  what  is  afforded  by  ours, 
will  rather  be  a  prolific  source  of  commercial  prosperity  to 
both,  by  force  of  the  trade  and  exchanges  it  will  enable  the 
countries  mutually  to  drive.  In  peace  neither  can  injure  the 
interests  of  the  other,  and  the  commercial  relations  must  be 


*  Notes  on  Mexico,  Chap.  IX. 

• 


G9 

fountains  of  prosperity  to  both.  Her  trade  with  the  new 
southern  states  will  no  doubt  be  considerable,  but  it  is  not 
likely  to  diminish  in  a  formidable  degree  their  demand  for 
those  things  with  which  we  are  able  to  supply  them,  not  even 
for  our  lumber,  grain,  or  provisions,  except  on  the  Pacific 
coast;  and  it  is  very  certain  that,  if  those  countries  are  well 
governed,  they  will  very  soon  be  able  to  suffice  to  their  own 
wants  in  these  articles ;  timber  to  be  sure  is  not  wanting  on 
the  Pacific  bord,  but  in  Buenos  Ayres  they  will  hardly  be  able 
to  make  it  grow  on  the  vast  plains  near  the  city,  and  there  will 
of  course  always  be  a  demand  for  it  in  that  market ;  our  sup 
plying  that  demand  will  depend  upon  our  being  able  to  fur 
nish  the  article  cheaper  than  it  can  be  brought  down  the 
river  ;  but  Mexico  will  find  it  difficult  to  compete  with  us. 

!  'k» 


CHAPTER   IX, 


HE  gulf  of  Mexico,  that  "  close  sea,"  and  the  Caribbean 
sea,  demand  particular  attention  from  us  and  from  all  Ame 
rica.  An  immense  commerce  is  destined  to  traverse  their  bo 
soms,  where  a.  very  great  and  rich  navigation  now  exists.  The 
trade  of  Mexico,  of  Guatimala,  that  is  of  the  whole  isthmus 
of  Colombia  as  far  as  Punta  Galera,  the  extreme  point  of  the 
island  of  Trinidad,  our  own  of  the  Floridan  coast  of  the 
Mississippi,  coasting  or  foreign,  must  exist,  waver,  or  cease 
as  those  Western  Mediterraneans  are  secure  or  dangerous. 
An  enemy's  fleet  in  that  sea  would  be  ruin  to  the  commerce 
of  all  those  vast  regions.  It  is  true  that  the  inconvenience 
will  be  partially,  and  not  more  than  partially,  alleviated, 
when  our  wise  and  splendid  projects  for  uniting  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi,  by  means  of  canals,  with  those  which  flow 
into  the  Atlantic,  are  accomplished  (if  they  ever  are  accom- 
K 


70 

plished),  and  that  a  palliative  for  impediments  to  the  trade  of 
Colombia  will  be  found  in  the  egress  of  part  of  it  through  the 
Kio  Orinoco ;  but  these  will  be  poor  compensations  for  the 
loss  of  the  natural  channel  for  the  commerce  of  such  immense 
regions  as  circumscribe  the  gulf  and  the  Caribbean  sea. 

In  order  to  insure  the  possession  of  these  seas  by  the  Ame 
rican  nations,  the  constant  presence  of  a  strong  fleet  is  in 
dispensably  necessary.  It  is  no  argument  to  say  that  hitherto, 
since  the  independence  of  South  America,  the  danger  of 
foreign  force  there  has  not  been  felt ;  the  political  attention 
of  Europe  is  only  just  now  attracted  to  the  southern  part 
of  our  continent;  the  curious,  ill  judged,  expedition  of  Eng 
land  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  at  the  close  of  the  late 
war  is  warning  enough  for  ours  and  the  succeeding  genera 
tions  ;  and  the  pirates  who  infested  the  islands  have  demon 
strated  what  mischief  may  be  done  even  by  small  and  desul 
tory  forces  in  that  quarter. 

The  gulf  and  the  Caribbean  sea  may  be  well  defended 
by  a  strong  squadron  within  them,  or  at  one  of  the  islands 
which  compose  their  Atlantic  outline.  The  passages  or 
entrances  between  the  islands  are  scarcely  any  of  them 
entirely  free  from  hazard,  and  are  all  of  them  hazardous 
for  the  ingress  of  a  fleet;  that  entrance  which  can  be  made 
by  floating  in  on  the  current  which  enters  this  immense  ba 
sin,  is  the  one  which  demands  the.  most  apprehension :  but 
the  same  current  of  water  or  of  wind  which  brings  in  an  ini 
mical  fleet,  will  carry  the  one  stationed  to  oppose  it,  beyond 
reach,  if  not  strong  enough  to  fight  in  the  gorge.  When  th^ 
enemy  is  in  the  basin  the  protecting  fleet  may  either  fight,  or 
maneuvre  from  the  eastward  so  as  to  impel  its  antagonist 
upon  the  coast  of  the  continent,  guarded  in  some  places  by 
rocks  and  shoals,  and  in  others  by  the  inexpiable  climate ; 
or,  being  acclimated,  it  may  keep  the  continental  side  of 
the  basin  and  drive  the  enemy  towards  the  islands,  where 
the  hazard  of  action  is  unreasonable,  because  in  case  of  dis 
aster  it  would  be  hardly  possible  for  any  ship,  which  might 
be  disabled  or  driven  before  a  superior  force,  to  avoid  being 
carried  by  the  variable  winds  and  currents  upon  some  of  the 
innumerable  reefs,  shoals,  and  dangers  which  encompass  the 


71 

islands;  nor  could  the  sound  ships  escape  without  incurring 
the  same  risks,  as  well  as  others  which  make  the  navigation 
among  the  complicated  passages  between  the  islands  objects 
of  anxiety  even  to  single  merchantmen,  and  much  more  for 
midable  to  vessels  of  great  draught,  pursued  by  an  enemy. 

But  these  dangers  are  reciprocal :  if  the  protecting  squa 
drons  be  defeated,  they  are  exposed  to  what  the  assailants 
would  have  to  encounter.  They  must  fight  for  it  then.  The 
hazard  to  the  defenders  would  not  be  so  great,  however,  be 
cause  they  would  have  the  long  circle  of  friendly  coast  for 
refuge,  and  their  danger  in  case  of  defeat  would  not  be  great 
unless  they  injudiciously  fought  to  windward  and  beyond  the 
middle  of  the  gulf  or  of  the  Caribbean  sea.  They  should 
never  fight,  even  with  the  view  of  driving  the  enemy  upon 
the  continental  shores,  unless  they  were  nearer  to  the  conti 
nent  than  to  the  islands.  These  must  be  our  grand  tactics 
if  we  are  ever  called  upon  to  contend  for  the  mastery  of  that 
vast  naumachia,  in  spite  of  the  gallant  maxim  of  our  sea 
men,  TO  FIGHT  WHERE  THEY  SEE  THE  FOE.  The  particular 

tactique,  the  details,  will  one  day  probably  exhibit  the  most 
beautiful  scene  of  naval  operations,  the  finest  specimens  of 
marine  skill  and  science ;  in  which  every  talent  for  maneuv- 
ring,  and  all  the  daring  of  courage,  will  be  nerved  to  the  high 
est  exertion.  Dangerous  passages  of  entrance  to  contend  for, 
a  fine  smooth  water  within  for  action,  with  the  site  fenced  in 
by  shoals  and  rocks,  leaving  room  enough  for  the  grand  evo 
lutions  of  two  large  fleets,  affording  a  certainty  to  the  fleet 
which  may  conquer  of  a  complete  and  efficacious  victory ; 
these  circumstances  combined  will  render  a  contest  for  pos 
session  of  the  gulf  and  the  sea  one  of  the  most  interesting 
studies  that  can  engage  the  eye  or  the  meditation  of  a  mili 
tary  man. 

If  an  enemy  should  obtain  possession  of  the  gulf  or  the 
sea,  his  means  of  annoyance  would  be  unlimited,  every  port 
would  be  ipso  facto  blockaded,  and  he  might  devastate  the 
whole  coast ;  but,  if  he  were  beaten,  his  whole  fleet  would 
probably  be  lost. 

I  dwell  upon  this  subject  in  order  to  communicate  my  deep 
impression  of  its  importance,  and  to  shew  the  necessity  of 


72 

the  presence  there  of  a  fleet  much  larger  than  we  are  ourselves 
as  yet  able  to  spare  from  the  force  it  is  indispensable  for  us 
to  maintain  upon  our  Atlantic  coasts,  and  which  I  see  no 
means  of  providing,  except  by  an  intimate  connection  with 
the  other  nations  of  the  continent :  it  is  as  much  for  our 
interest  as  for  theirs,  and  it  is  essential  to  the  interests  of  all, 
that  such  a  fleet  should  exist  in  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  in 
the  Caribbean  sea.  It  will  not  do  to  wait  for  the  breaking 
out  of  a  war  and  then  attempt  to  get  possession ;  the  odds 
are  so  largely  against  a  fleet  endeavouring  to  enter  in  face 
of  an  enemy,  that  the  power  which  is  first  in  possession  will 
probably  keep  it :  therefore  the  American  powers  must  in 
common  prudence  be  always  in  actual  and  strong  possession. 
The  island  of  Trinidad  will  be  a  most  important  station  in 
such  a  contest,  and  should  be  acquired  by  the  American  na 
tions,  strongly  fortified  and  occupied,  standing  as  it  does  at 
the  extreme  point  of  the  continent,  and  covering  the  gulf  of 
Paria,  which  should  be  made  the  southern  rendezvous  of  the 
protecting  fleet,  provided  the  Dragon's  mouth,  the  channel 
between  Cape  Paria  and  that  island,  is  or  can  be  made  pas-* 
sable  for  men  of  war*,  and  provided  it  be  healthy,  which  is 
doubted;  since  it  will  not  escape  observation  that  the  game 
of  the  protecting  fleet  is  to  be  harboured  in  such  way  as  to 
maneuvre  inside,  and  a  little  in  the  van,  of  the  entering  force, 
which  is  far  preferable  to  the  pis  cdler  named  above  of  pres 
sing  the  latter  towards  the  coast  of  the  continent;  the 
currents  and  the  island  reefs  will  be  more  serviceable  auxili 
aries  when  the  assailants  are  pressed  outwards ;  va3  victis 
would  be  more  than  a  mere  proverb  to  them  in  that  case  ; 
the  chief  object  should  be,  keeping  as  much  as  possible  in 
in  the  middle  of  the  sea  or  gulf  to  force  all  their  fleet  into  the 
variable  currents,  where  they  must  drift  at  a  rapid  rate,  and 
to  close  upon  them  and  fight  only  when  they  are  off*  some  of 
the  reefs;  if  they  are  able  to  get  into  the  middle  of  either, 
we  have  nothing  left  but  to  make  for  the  bottom  of  the  gulf 
or  of  the  sea,  or  if  there  be  any  equality  of  force  to  have  a 

*  It  is  passable  no  doubt. 


73 

fair  battle  for  it,  ship  to  ship,  and  gun  for  gun.  The  gulf  oi 
Maracaibo  should  probably  be  the  middle  rendezvous,  and  a 
port  in  our  territory  the  most  northern,  if  Cuba  continue  in 
her  present  political  situation.  We  may  talk  of  peace  and 
safety,  but  our  southern  frontier,  and  whatever  is  covered 
by  it,  as  well  as  the  whole  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  can  nei 
ther  have  peace  nor  safety  if  an  enemy  to  this  country  rides  at 
large  in  the  seas  bounded  by  the  islands :  there  is  a  proximity 
of  combustible  materials  in  that  quarter  which  are  too  full  of 
hazard  for  us  to  permit  our  coast  to  be  approached  by  a 
foe.  This  is  a  delicate  point  I  know,  but  the  whole  of  my 
theme  is  of  the  deepest  import  to  the  United  States,  however 
illy  it  may  be  here  discussed ;  and  the  truth  had  better  be 
whispered  now,  at  the  moment  when  a  safeguard  against 
evils  is  proposed,  than  thundered  forth  in  an  hour  of  peril 
when  precautions  are  to  be  synchronitic  with  the  approach 
of  their  exciting  causes.  I  do  not  however  apprehend  any 
thing  like  permanent  conquest,  by  an  enemy  in  conse 
quence  of  an  excitement  of  the  kind  to  which  I  allude,  I 
place  too  much  confidence  in  the  stalwart  bravery  and 
the  vigour  of  our  citizens  to  fear  conquest,  or  permanent 
possession  of  territory,  or  lasting  change  from  those  causes 
in  the  condition  of  those  citizens  who  inhabit  the  part  of  the 
country  spoken  of.  But  great  disasters  and  individual  dis 
tress  may  arise  from  thence ;  and  to  prevent  these  I  would 
"hang  out  the  banners  on  the  outward  wall";  I  would  have 
the  access  to  our  coast  on  the  gulf  forbidden  to  an  enemy. 
In  order  to  maintain  possession  of  the  gulf  and  the  Caribbean 
seas,  their  circumference  must,  in  my  opinion,  be  possessed 
by  nations  in  close  amity  with  one  another ;  and  the  basin  of 
the  gulf  itself  must  be  occupied  by  a  fleet  strong  enough  to 
drive  out  whatever  power  may  attempt  to  enter  it.  That 
fleet  can  at  present  be  furnished  only  by  a  union  of  the 
squadrons  of  the  nations  whose  dominions  form  the  coasts. 
The  enemy  I  apprehend  will  not  be  American;  the  power  of 
the  nations  of  this  continent  will  shortly  be  too  equally  ba 
lanced  for  any  of  them  to  be  able  to  domineer  in  the  gulf;  and 
their  means  of  retaliation  are  too  great  to  allow  any  one  to 
meditate  annoyance  to  the  others  in  so  delicate  a  point. 


74 


•'Sgnedj)  9*1*  yd  bfl/5  ? 

• 

'iqxs 

• 
• 

t  vcf 

CHAPTER   Xe 

*..•,•,«*» 

__ 

_  i     •>:•(*>.-»  :!•: 


1 


.N  considering  the  importance  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
of  the  Caribbean  sea,  and  the  mode  of  defending  them,  our 
attention  is  naturally  directed  towards  the  islands,  and  espe 
cially  to  Cuba. 

Human  vision  is  not  strong  enough  to  penetrate  the  ob 
scurity  of  the  future  destiny  of  the  West  Indies.  If  the 
islands  were  large  enough  to  support  a  large  population,  or 
if  there  were  unity,  or  even  sympathy  of  sentiment,  language, 
or  principle,  among  their  inhabitants,  sufficient  to  induce 
them  to  coalesce,  they  might  at  some  distant  day  become  in 
dependent,  and  compose  a  powerful  state  of  the  second  order; 
maintaining  and  protecting  their  existence  as  a  people  by 
means  of  a  large  navy,  for  which  the  richness  of  their  pro 
ductions,  the  extensive  commerce  they  might  possess,  and 
the  number  of  the  population  they  might  contain,  would 
afford  ample  resources  :  there  are  many  circumstances  which 
would  tend  to  qualify  them  for  such  a  system,  if  the  charac 
ter  of  their  inhabitants  were  different  from  what  it  actually 
is.  But  it  is  in  vain  to  speculate  upon  what  might  be  the 
result  of  circumstances  which  do  not  exist.  The  islands  are 
inhabited  by  proprietors  who  have  emigrated  (or  are  descend 
ants  of  emigrants)  from  countries  as  different  from  each  other 
in  dispositions,  inclinations,  and  character,  as  they  are  dis 
tant  in  position  on  the  globe ;  and  however  these  dissimila 
rities  may  have  been  lessened,  or  even  run  into  a  common 
type  of  general  uniformity,  by  the  influence  of  a  common 
climate,  by  the  identity  of  their  occupations,  pursuits,  or 


75 

habits,  and  by  the  changes  of  sovereigns,  which  most  of  them 
have  undergone,  there  still  remains  the  fundamental  princi 
ple  of  different  origins,  and  especially  the  aversion,  or,  to 
express  it  more  moderately,  the  disconnection  of  feeling, 
which  constitutes  the  individuality  of  nations,  and  which 
has  never  in  history  been  subverted,  except  by  conquest,  or 
by  the  application  of  power  equivalent  to  conquest — even 
then  it  has  endured  for  ages  in  spite  of  amalgamation  by 
community  of  government  and  of  general  interests. 

These  proprietors  form  but  a  small  minority  of  the  popu 
lation  of  the  islands*  :  the  great  bulk  of  the  inhabitants  are  of 
the  servile  class,  of  a  different  race  of  the  human  family,  kept 
in  subjection  by  the  presence  and  exercise  of  an  armed  force. 
The  pride,  the  interest,  and  the  prejudices  of  the  one  class, 
with  the  desire  of  equality  and  the  characteristics  of  the 
other,  render  any  idea  of  a  fraternal  concord,  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  nation,  almost  an  absurdity.  The  masters  cannot 
even  occupy  the  position  of  that  soldiery  which  originally 
acquired  the  dominion  in  Europe,  which  has  been  discussed 
at  some  length  heretofore ;  there  was  not  the  same  dissimila 
rity,  not  the  constitutional  antipathy,  between  the  blue  eyed 
Gauls  and  the  dark  haired  Franks,  nor  between  the  Nor 
man  and  Saxon,  as  between  the  white  man  and  the  negro : 
the  subjugated  countries  were  possessed  by  men  of  the  same 
denomination  as  the  subdued  in  the  roll  of  mankind ;  there 
were  therefore  no  insurmountable  obstacles  to  their  incor 
poration  into  the  same  social  compact.  It  is  vain  to  con 
tend  with  the  prejudices  of  the  world,  however  benevolent 
or  Utopian  may  be  the  ideas  of  some  abstract  reasoners ;  but 
the  white  and  the  black  races  can  never  be  amalgamated^ 
the  prejudices  are  too  deeply  rooted,  and  seem  to  be  im 
planted  in  our  very  natures ;  nor  do  I  know  that  it  would  be 
better  for  either  race  to  eradicate  those  prejudices.  Huma 
nity  dictates  that  the  disparity  should  be  rendered  as  little 
offensive  as  possible,  and  that  the  superiority  of  the  com 
plexion  which  has  the  ascendancy  should  not  be  exercised 
in  acts  of  oppression,  still  less  of  cruelty  ;  but  the  difference 


*  As  one  to  five.— Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  II.  p.  833. 


76 

does  actually  exist  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  it  will  exist, 
in  spite  of  cant,  or  of  argument,  which  is  much  more  effec 
tual.  If  it  were  not  for  the  total  distinction  of  the  two  races, 
the  violent  opposition  of  the  two  colours,  which  interpose  a 
barrier  (whose  subversion  certainly  would  cause  a  blush  in 
the  great  majority  of  the  white  race)  to  the  commingling  of 
the  bloods,  there  would  not  be  so  wide  a  difference  between 
the  state  of  civil  society  in  the  islands  and  that  which  subsis 
ted  in  Europe  in  the  periods  immediately  following  the  con 
quests  of  the  several  countries  of  that  continent ;  there  is  not 
very  great  difference  between  the  actual  condition  of  the 
negro  slave  and  the  pristine  state  of  the  serfs,  villains,  and 
franklins  of  Europe,  although  some,  or  at  least  one,  of  the 
countries  where  the  bulk  of  the  population  was  composed  of 
these  classes,  do  make  such  a  clamour  about  the  modern  imi 
tations  of  their  ancient  customs.  The  same  antipathy,  or 
proud  superiority,  which  was  entertained  by  the  Franks  to 
wards  the  Gauls,  by  the  Normans  towards  the  Saxons,  the 
Moors  towards  the  Spaniards,  and  by  these  last  towards 
the  Moors,  when  they  recovered  the  dominion  of  their 
natal  soil,  the  same  sentiments,  natural  to  the  conquerors  to 
wards  their  captives,  were  entertained,  now  are  felt  by  the 
white  masters  towards  their  negro  slaves.  But  as  there 
did  not  exist  such  strongly  delineated  traces  of  demarka- 
tion  between  the  conquerors  and  the  subdued  in  Europe,  as 
between  the  white  man  and  the  black,  the  prejudices  were 
not  so  inexpiable,  the  repugnances  were  not  so  violent,  nor 
was  the  inequality  so  irreparable.  In  this  case,  until  the 
sentiments  and  prejudice  of  the  world  shall  undergo  an  en 
tire  revolution,  the  anticipation  of  which  is  not  authorized  by 
any  appearances  or  by  any  sound  reasoning,  there  can  ne 
ver  exist  a  mediate  condition  between  the  complete  subju 
gation  of  the  blacks,  and  the  expulsion  or  destruction  of  the 
whites  in  the  West  Indias,  nay  in  any  country  where  such  an 
adverse  population  is  found.  I  know  how  little  these  posi 
tions  will  be  relished  by  some  persons  in  this  country,  the 
only  one  whose  approbation  of  what  I  write  is  essential  to 
me  ;  but  I  cannot  fawn  for  popularity,  nor  can  I  gild  and 
sweeten  phrases,  when  subjects  are  treated  upon  which  relate 


77 

to  the  future  destinies  of  a  vast  continent,  and  above  all 
of  my  native  land;  I  write  what  I  believe  to  be  political 
truths;  »f  they  are  disapproved,  I  have  only  to  regret  that  the 
truth  is  unpalatable;  and  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  enlight 
ened  and  reasoning  citizens  of  the  United  States  will  cen 
sure  the  expression  of  what  is  believed  to  be  truth,  when  it 
is  not  done  in  an  offensive  manner,  without  imputing  impro 
per  motives  to  those  whose  opinions  are  different,  and  with 
out  disputing  the  right  of  every  man  to  entertain  his  own 
sentiments  ;  a  right  which  I  concede  as  freely  to  others  as  I 
claim  it  for  myself. 

The  causes  of  the  permanency  of  the  colonial  state  of  the 
West  Indian  islands  are,  the  national  divisions  according  to 
the  several  origins  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  acknow 
ledged  however  to  be  much  modified  by  circumstances  and 
past  events  and  to  be  of  itself  alone  an  insufficient  reason 
for  their  not  being  expected  to  unite  into  a  confederated  or 
consolidated  independent  nation  ;  and  the  peculiar  character 
of  the  mass  of  their  population,  which  we  cannot  hope  will  be 
blended  into  identity  with  the  portion  which  rules,  and  which 
possesses  the  education,  the  talent,  and  the  arms ;  without 
which  identity,  compounded  of  feeling  and  interest,  a  nation 
cannot  be  constituted.  Perhaps  even  these  causes  would  not 
perpetuate  their  colonial  condition,  if  the  white  inhabitants 
possessed  great  vigour  and  activity  of  mind  and  body  ;  in 
this  case,  reinforcing  their  numerical  strength  by  connecting 
with  themselves  the  interests,  the  pride,  and  the  sympathy 
of  the  coloured  or  mulatto  part  of  the  population,  and  thus 
forming  a  middle  class  in  society,  they  might  be  able  to 
place  themselves  more  nearly  in  the  condition  of  the  Eu 
ropean  nations  in  former  ages.  But  the  debilitating  influ 
ence  of  slavery  upon  the  character  of  the  islanders,  vastly 
enhanced  by  the  effect  of  a  voluptuous  climate,  seems  to 
forbid  the  conception  of  a  plan  which  would  require  a  de 
velopment  and  constant  exercise  of  the  strongest  energies 
of  the  mind,  and  also  an  exercise  of  great  bodily  activity. 
Important  indeed,  in  commerce,  politics,  and  the  general 
affairs  of  the  world,  would  be  an  insular  nation  composed 
of  the  West  Indian  islands,  with  a  strong  navy,  and  a  large 
L 


78 

army  occupying  their  numerous  strong  holds.  Some  data 
whereon  to  found  reflections  on  this  subject  appear  in  the 
note*,  in  which  I  have  placed  a  summary  of  the  statistics  of 
the  West  Indias  as  given  by  baron  Humboldt,  one  of  the 
most  laborious  and  intelligent  of  modern  writers :  it  is  pro 
bable  that,  as  M.  De  Humboldt  himself  states,  the  calcula 
tions  may  be  only  approximative ;  but  this  is  all  that  can  be 
expected  in  political  economy ;  and  when  nations  are  counted, 
a  few  thousands  more  or  less  do  not  affect  the  general  de 
ductions  from  the  data. 

There  is  one  contingency  under  which  an  insular  nation 
might  be  created  in  these  regions.  It  is  that  of  one  or  more 
of  the  most  powerful  nations  of  Europe,  or  of  America, 
adopting  the  plan  of  forming  the  new  nation,  and  constituting 
itself,  or  themselves,  the  protector  of  the  new  born  empire, 
as  in  the  instance  of  the  Ionian  isles,  or  resembling  the  for 
mer  state  of  colonial  America.  Some  recent  examples  in 
Europe  do  not  make  this  idea  seem  so  visionary  as  it  would 
have  appeared  fifty  years  ago.  If  such  an  event  should 
happen,  it  is  possible,  that,  after  having  been  accustomed  to 
a  modified  self  government  for  a  half  century,  secured 
from  foreign  violence  and  domestic  insurrection  by  the  as 
sistance  of  the  protecting  power,  the  relations  between  the 
islands,  and  among  the  different  classes  of  the  inhabitants, 
might  be  cemented  into  a  national  consistency,  and  they 
might  be  qualified  to  take  the  forces  of  empire  into  the 
hands  of  their  own  government ;  such  would  certainly  be 
the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  new  nation,  as  it  has  been  of 
every  people  separated  by  distance  from  its  metropolitan 
government — excepting  always  the  possibility  of  a  new  dis- 


*  The  whole  surface  of  the  Archipelago  of  the  West  Indies  contains  nearly 
8300  square  leagues,  20  to  a  degree,  or  74,700  square  miles.  Total  population 
2,  843,000 ;  of  which,  whites,  482,600,  or  17  per  cent.  Black  and  some  mulatto 
slaves,"!. 147,500,  or  40  per  cent.  Free  men  of  colour,  mulattoes,  and  blacks, 
1,212,900,  or  43  per  cent. ;  of  the  slaves  the  mulattoes  are  taken  to  be  one-twen 
tieth.  Cuba,  700,000  souls,  of  which  256,000  are  slaves.  Ha'ity,  820,000.  Ja 
maica,  402,000,  of  which  342,000  are  slaves. — Humboldt's  Personal  Narrative. 
Vol.  VI.  Part  II.  English  translation,  1826,  (calculations  brought  down  to  1824)., 
pp.  818.  834. 


79 

vnemberment  by  conquest.  To  this  idea  (which  has  never  met 
my  eye  before)  is  to  be  objected ;  first,  that  it  has  not  yet 
been  broached  in  any  country,  as  I  believe ;  secondly,  that  few 
governments  are  generous  enough  to  assist  in  the  creation  of 
a  new  people,  merely  from  a  desire  to  obtain  the  glory  of  ad 
ding  a  member  to  the  great  family  of  nations;  and  thirdly, 
that  the  design  would  be  opposed  by  the  sovereigns  who 
own  the  several  colonies,  as  well  as  by  those  who  would  be 
jealous  either  of  the  power  which  must  thence  accrue  to  the 
protecting  power,  or  of  the  glory  to  be  acquired  by  such  an 
act  of  magnanimity.  At  least,  all  things  seem  to  indicate 
that  the  islands  will  remain  colonies,  owned  by  their  pre 
sent  possessors,  or  by  powers  who  will  hereafter  conquer 
only  to  bring  them  under  their  own  yoke.  No  nation  will 
take  the  trouble  of  fighting  them  free,  and  the  discordant  na 
ture  of  their  population  will  prevent  their  doing  it  for  them 
selves  :  and  of  course  all  precautionary  measures  should  be 
taken  by  the  two  Americas  with  an  expectation  of  the  per 
manency  of  the  present  condition  of  the  islands. 

The  existence  of  negro  slavery,  in  a  country  where  the 
blacks  are  numerous,  is  a  thing  not  to  be  temporized  with,  to 
be  alleviated,  nor  to  be  got  rid  of,  by  any  contrivance  as 
yet  devised.  The  colours  cannot  be  blended :  the  mixture  of 
them  only  creates  a  new  caste,  which  does  not  belong  to 
either  colour,  with  the  bravery  and  fierceness  of  the  white 
race  before  it  was  mollified  by  the  effect  of  climate,  with  its 
intelligence  and  talent,  and  with  the  capability  of  enduring 
the  climate  which  characterizes  the  black.  This  caste  is  the 
great  implement  in  hands  of  the  ascendant  race  for  repress 
ing  any  attempts  of  the  slaves  to  acquire  a  superiority,  for 
which  nature  never  intended  them,  if  we  may  judge  by  their 
condition  and  history  in  the  countries  whence  they  were 
originally  brought,  or  by  what  we  have  seen  of  them  with 
our  own  eyes  in  the  countries  where  they  now  are.  We 
have  seen  nations  of  tawny  men  formidable  to  the  whites, 
and  distinguished  in  the  arts;  but  we  have  no  example  of  a 
black  nation  being  distinguished  for  any  thing  but  their  bar 
barism:  they  are  slaves  in  their  own  land  as  much  as  they 
are  elsewhere,  and  slaves  there  to  barbarians  of  their  own 


80 

coiour.  If  the  mulatto  race  were  any  where  to  attempt  to 
overpower  the  whites,  a  rancorous  hostility  against  the  mulat- 
toes  would  be  found  among  the  negroes,  by  means  of  which, 
with  any  reasonable  policy,  such  an  attempt  might  be  re 
pressed  ;  and  in  this  case  the  negroes  would  fight  better,  be 
cause  the  similarity  of  their  origin  and  of  their  colour  would 
preclude  the  natural  sense  of  inferiority  which  they  feel 
towards  the  whites,  and  which  will  always  give  the  latter  a 
decided  superiority  in  the  field,  unless  enormously  outnum 
bered.  Thus,  by  means  of  the  antipathy  subsisting  between 
the  two  colours,  the  white  race,  with  any  prudence,  will 
always  retain  the  mastery. 

As  the  condition  of  a  country  wherein  there  are  many  blacks 
cannot  be  altered,  there  is  no  medium  between  slavery  and 
extermination ;  for  if  the  slaves  be  set  free  they  compose  a  mi 
serable,  idle,  volatile,  dangerous,  and  worthless  population,  as 
we  have  seen  not  only  in  the  United  States,  but  also  in  their 
boasted  Haity.  There  does  not  appear  to  be  danger  of  a  suc 
cessful  insurrection  of  the  blacks  in  any  country  where  they 
are  not  many  fold  the  number  of  the  whites ;  nor  even  where 
this  is  the  case,  if  the  whites  are  not  imprudent  to  the  highest 
degree :  by  a  slight  attention  to  management,  they  may  keep 
up  the  antipathy  between  the  mulattoes  and  blacks,  and  use 
them  mutually  to  keep  down  one  another.  There  is  only 
one  event  in  which  an  imminent  peril  can  occur;  it  is  in 
case  another  nation,  forgetting  every  law  of  nature  and  of 
religion,  shall  furnish  arms  to  the  slaves,  with  white  or  educa 
ted  mulatto  leaders  to  head  them;  this  crime  of  which  some 
of  the  colonists  accuse  an  enlightened  nation,  ought  to  be 
punished  by  putting  any  government  capable  of  it,  out  of 
the  pale  of  national  law ;  it  should  be  placed  on  the  footing 
of  piracy  by  consent  of  all  civilized  countries,  and  instant 
death  should  be  inflicted  upon  every  person  detected  in  at 
tempting  it  The  greatest  misfortunes  of  inhabitants  of  the 
islands  particularly,  and  of  all  people  who  own  slaves,  are 
the  enervation  and  luxury  produced  by  the  condition  itself 
of  slave  holding,  by  their  riches,  and  by  the  climate.  If  the 
chivalric  habits  and  propensities  of  the  early  age  of  Europe, 
when  the  body  was  nerved  by  martial  exercises,  could  be 


81 

introduced  among  slave  holders,  they  would  be  safe ;  for 
experience  teaches  us  that  the  white  race  is  sure  of  con 
quering  in  battle  vastly  superior  numbers  of  blacks,  and  even 
of  coloured  men  if  these  are  not  commanded  by  whites ; 
Hindostan  affords  proofs  enough  of  the  fact.  The  colonists 
ought  to  rely  chiefly  upon  themselves,  maintaining  a  military 
organization  ready  for  instant  concentration  and  action.  A 
strong  force  of  regular  and  standing  troops,  with  the  posses 
sion  of  well  constructed  fortresses,  incapable  of  capture  but 
by  regular  sieges  conducted  according  to  the  rules  of  art,  are 
also  necessary;  with  these  and  a  military  organization,  as 
well  as  a  martial  spirit  among  themselves,  the  slave  owners 
would  always  be  safe ;  although  they  may  be  liable  to  par 
tial  insurrections  and  violence  more  like  offences  against 
the  police  than  formidable  civil  wars.  But  the  unpardon 
able  offence  against  the  whole  white  race,  from  which,  if 
persisted  in,  the  worst  imaginable  consequences  must  be 
anticipated,  is  the  arming  and  disciplining  the  blacks.  One 
nation  has  done  this  to  a  considerable  extent  as  is  before  in 
timated.  It  is  all  very  well  to  exclaim  against  negro  slavery, 
although  how  to  get  rid  of  it  where  slaves  are  numerous  is 
a  question  not  to  be  answered;  no  man  who  has  common 
humanity  can  extenuate  cruelty  towards  them,  but  he  who, 
under  pretence  of  compassionating  them  and  of  fine  feel 
ings,  should  kindle  the  volcanic  flames  of  servile  wars  against 
his  own  colour  or  his  own  countrymen,  would  deserve  the 
most  severe  punishment,  and  would  merit  the  concentra 
ted  execration  of  the  world.  He  must  want  common 
sense,  and  is  utterly  destitute  of  the  humanity  which  he  pre 
tends,  who  would  provoke  and  exercise  cruelty  towards  the 
whites,  under  the  false  colour  of  compassion  for  the  blacks. 
The  wretch,  who  unchains  tygers  and  turns  them  loose  upon 
a  populous  city,  is  kind,  benevolent,  humane,  in  comparison 
to  him,  accursed  of  his  race  and  abandoned  by  a  just  God, 
who  would  set  the  poor  uncultivated  slave  at  his  master's 
throat;  the  horror,  ravage,  slaughter,  and  devastation,  conse 
quent  upon  such  an  atrocity  has  had  no  parallel — let  St 
Domingo  bear  witness. 

Although  I  do  not  believe  that  with  proper  precautions 


the  whites  of  the  islands  could  be  subdued  by  the  blacks, 
yet  no  one  can  answer  for  the  consequences  of  first  educat 
ing  and  rousing  all  the  higher  passions  in  the  breasts  of 
some  blacks  and  especially  of  the  mulattoes,  who  are  scarcely 
inferior  to  ourselves  in  talents  and  courage,  and  who,  by  the 
unfortunate  effects  of  unbridled  luxury  and  the  partiality  of 
their  white  parents,  are  likely  to  be  employed  in  the  islands 
in  posts  of  trust  and  to  be  the  most  carefully  educated,  and 
then  embodying  these  blacks  and  mulattoes  into  armies  and 
carefully  disciplining  them :  some  Spartacus  will  be  found 
among  them,  who  will  scoff  at  the  feeble,  the  paltry,  expe 
dient  of  setting  white  officers  to  command  them.  The  first 
law  of  safety  is  to  keep  arms  out  of  the  hands  of  the  blacks, 
or  of  any  population  which  it  is  necessary  to  keep  down, 
and  to  prevent  their  acquiring  a  familiarity  with  the  use  of 
arms ;  the  second  is,  to  prevent  the  formation  of  a  nucleus 
whereupon  an  insurrection  may  form,  and  which  may  bear 
the  first  brunt  of  attack  in  case  of  insurrection.  But  the 
fearful  plan  of  raising  black  troops,  destroys  both  precau 
tions;  they  are  familiarized  with  arms,  and  they  are  the  cen 
tres  round  which  the  numerical  force  of  their  own  colour 
may  rally;  besides,  they  are,  and  must  necessarily  be,  can 
toned,  quartered,  or  garrisoned  in  the  strong  holds  and  for 
tresses:  if  they  get  possession  of  these,  arms,  stores,  and 
all,  the  affair  would  be  decided  at  o,nce.  Let  it  not  delude 
any  one  that  hitherto  the  black  troops  in  those  countries 
have  been  faithful ;  the  hour  has  not  arrived,  their  leader, 
their  Spartacus,  has  not  appeared.  Of  all  the  fatal,  of  all  the 
detestable,  measures  of  modern  policy,  this  is  the  very  worst; 
it  is  a  cruelty,  a  barbarity,  of  the  most  direful  aspect ;  the 
worse,  because  those  who  originated  and  who  persevere  in  it 
are  far  removed  from  its  dangers,  to  which  one  could  be  al 
most  reconciled  if  they  were  exposed  to  the  hazard  ;  but  it 
is  not  they,  it  is  the  colonists,  who  are  thus  laid  open  to 
every  -evil  of  which  our  nature  is  susceptible ;  upon  their 
devoted  heads  will  the  tornado  burst,  while  the  men,  the 
nation,  and  the  government,  which  have  prepared  these 
horrors,  are  safe,  remote,  and  indifferent  spectators  of  the 
catastrophes  which  they  have  prepared.  If  black  troops 


83 
• 

must  be  levied,  they  ought  to  be  removed  instantly  after  their 
enrolment  to  Europe,  where  they  will  be  innoctious,  and  re 
placed  in  the  islands  by  white  troops. 

In  considering  the  relations  of  the  West  Indias,  Cuba  is  of 
sufficient  importance  to  demand  special  observation.  The 
first  and  most  urgent  point  to  discuss  in  regard  to  this  island, 
is,  whether  it  can  or  will  be  separately  independent.  I  doubt 
its  occupying  this  position.  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  have  a 
superficies  of  4430  square  leagues  according  to  Humboldt* 
who  has  deviated  from  his  usual  critical  accuracy  in  not  giv 
ing  the  separate  measurement  of  each,  but  Porto  Rico  does 
not  enter  into  my  consideration,  as  Haity  interposes,  to  which 
in  case  of  dismemberment,  it  is  more  likely  to  belong.  Cuba 
contains  700,000  souls  according  to  this  author,  of  which 
256,000  are  slaves,  upon  a  superficies,  according  to  my  as 
sumption,  of  38,000  square  miles.  Now  this  population  may 
double  in  about  twenty-five  years  :  but  suppose  there  will  be 
more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  inhabitants,  the  ratio  of  po 
pulation,  would  be  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  and  ten  thirty- 
eighths  souls  to  the  square  league,  or  thirty-nine  and  eighteen 
thirty-eighths  to  the  square  mile  ;  prolific  as  is  the  soil,  it  can 
not  be  expected  to  produce  aliment  for  a  greater  number  than 
the  relative  population  of  France  which  is  1178  to  the  square 
leaguef,  and  to  support  them,  the  ground  now  occupied  by 
plantations  of  the  articles  which  constitute  her  riches,  must 
then  be  converted  into  fields  for  cultivation  of  mere  food ;  of 
course  diminishing  her  wealth  and  the  sources  of  her  public 
revenue  :  as  to  manufactures  on  a  large  scale  for  exportation, 


*  Vol.  I.  Part  I.  p.  127.  This  number  of  square  leagues  equals  39,870  square 
miles.  There  is  a  curious  discrepancy  in  the  estimates  of  the  area  of  these  is 
lands  :  Rees's  Cyclopaedia  gives  for  Cuba  38,400  square  miles ;  Darby's  Edition  of 
Brooks's  Gazetteer,  ed.  1823,  42,000  square  miles  for  Cuba,  and  calls  Porto  Rico 
100  by  50  miles  ;  Morse's  Universal  Geography,  54,000  square  miles  for  Cubar  and 
4140  for  Porto  Rico  ;  Melish's  Geographical  Description  of  the  United  States  and 
the  contiguous  countries,  ed.  1822,  calls  Cuba  54,000  square  miles,  and  Porto 
Rico  4000.  All  calculations  of  the  area  of  countries  are  merely  approximation ; 
therefore  I  assume  the  content  of  Cuba  in  the  text  as  sufficiently  correct  for  sa 
general  a  treatise. 

t  Humboldt,  ut  ante,  Vol.  VI,  Part  I.  p,  197. 


84 

they  can  not  be  expected  from  an  island  under  so  hot  a  sun; 
and  a  very  long  period  must  elapse  before  such  a  population 
as  that  last  named,  or  any  thing  like  it,  can  exist,  if  it  ever 
can.  If  Haity  should  be  cited  to  contradict  the  idea  that 
Cuba  is  neither  large  enough,  nor  susceptible  of  population 
enough,  to  be  entirely  independent,  I  have  only  to  reply 
that  Haity  holds  her  independence  at  the  mere  will  of  the 
great  powers,  and  may  be  conquered  in  any  six  months  by 
the  first  that  shall  undertake  the  task  and  can  surmount  the 
jealousy  of  rival  sovereigns :  if  the  24,000  men  sent  out 
formerly  by  France  for  this  purpose  were  not  sufficient, 
50,000  would  do  the  business  ;  and  if  such  a  body  would  be 
difficult  to  transport  at  once,  they  might  be  concentrated 
upon  one  of  the  other  islands  by  successive  embarkations. 
The  stability  of  Haitian  independence  would  not  be  worth 
six  months'  purchase  if  either  England  or  France  were  to 
attempt  seriously  the  subjugation  of  her  inefficient  popula 
tion. 

A  society  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  souls  is  not  large 
enough  to  constitute  a  separate  nation  as  the  politics  of  the 
world  stand :  the  example  of  the  Scots,  as  brave,  high  minded, 
industrious,  and  intelligent,  a  people  as  the  sun  ever  shone 
upon,  is  before  our  eyes,  as  proof  of  this  position. 

But  Cuba  may  easily  form  a  confederated  state  with  either 
of  her  powerful  neighbours,  the  United  States  or  Colombia  ; 
she  might  do  so  with  Mexico,  but  that  she  is  almost  too  dis 
tant  :  she  so  nearly  touches  the  others  that  she  would  natu 
rally  be  attached  to  one  of  them.  The  objection  to  such  an 
union,  strengthening  and  protecting  both  parties,  will  be 
found  only  in  the  jealousy  of  the  European  sovereigns,  in 
their  desire  to  prevent  a  coalition  which  would  irretrievably 
seal  the  gulf  of  Mexico  against  any  hostile  invasion,  and  in 
their  apprehension  for  the  effect  of  an  example  of  the  kind, 
if  they  were  to  allow  Spain  to  be  deprived,  either  by  con 
quest  or  by  purchase,  of  so  important  a  colony.  This  how 
ever  is  the  destiny  of  Cuba,  and  probably  at  no  distant  day. 
Then  will  appear  whether  the  above  motives  will  be  strong 
enough  to  counterbalance  the  jealousy  which  the  powers  of 


r 
85 

Europe  will  feel  towards  each  other  in  relation  to  any  of 
them  interfering  in  American  affairs. 

It  is  in  vain  to  use  any  circumlocution  upon  this  subject — , 
Cuba  must  be  adopted  into  the  great  American  family.  If 
we  could  calculate  with  any  reasonable  certainty  upon  that 
island  remaining  in  the  possession  of  a  power  too  weak  to 
make  use  of  it  as  a  point  whence  to  attack  us  or  the  other 
nations  of  this  continent,  and  yet  just  strong  enough  to  main 
tain  her  dominion  over  it,  or  rather  if  we  could  suppose  the 
power  of  the  sovereign  of  the  island  sufficient  to  prevent 
any  other  European  nation  from  getting  it  out  of  his  hands, 
and  yet  not  so  strong  as  to  prevent  America  from  taking 
possession  of  it  whenever  we  please — if  we  could  suppose  a 
thing  impossible  and  absurd  in  itself,  then  we  might  regard 
Cuba  with  indifference.  But  as  such  an  idea  is  absurd,  we 
can  not,  and  we  ought  not,  to  forget  for  an  instant  that  Cuba 
is  the  hermetical  seal  to  the  mouth  of  the  gulf,  and  that  she 
stretches  out  a  long  flank  of  coast  to  that  sea  whose  freedom 
and  safety  are  indispensable  to  Colombia,  and  to  our  own 
trade  with  the  great  regions  which  form  its  continental  out 
line.  The  gulf  could  not  be  entered  if  Cuba  were  occu 
pied  by  a  strong  naval  power  at  variance  with  the  nations 
whose  territories  circumscribe  it;  nor  could  the  sea  south 
of  her  be  then  navigated,  with  any  security.  Therefore  Cuba 
must  not  pass  out  of  the  possession  of  Spain  into  that  of  any 
other  European  power ;  and  as  Spain  is  not  strong  enough 
to  keep  it,  the  island  must  be  united  to  the  American  system. 
When  she  is  united  to  that  policy  the  gulf  will  be  safe,  for 
the  grand  rendezvous  of  the  defensive  fleets  will  be  on  her 
coasts,  with  a  perfectly  free  option  of  contending  for  the  en 
trances  into  the  gulf  and  into  the  sea  south  of  her,  or  of 
fighting  within  them  with  friendly  ports  on  all  sides.  This 
language  may  be  called  bold,  if  the  whole  theme  upon 
which  I  write  were  not  the  vital  interests  of  my  own  coun 
try  and  of  all  America ;  it  might  even  be  termed  rash,  were 
it  not  best  to  declare  the  whole  truth  to  those  for  whom 
alone  I  write,  however  appalling  it  may  be. 

The  question  immediately  occurs,  how  is  America  to  ob 
tain  Cuba,  not  with  the  design  of  perpetuating  her  colonial 
M 


«* 

86 

state,  but  of  making  her  part  of  ourselves,  a  confederated 
state  or  nation.  I  will  not  speak  of  the  ultima  ratio  regum, 
although  a  point  of  so  much  importance  is  worth  the  cost  and 
the  peril  of  war;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  milder  measures 
may  obtain  the  same  result.  Spain  will  have  to  abandon 
in  a  short  time  her  inveterate  obstinacy  respecting  her  late 
colonies;  they  are  lost  to  her  for  ever;  and  the  sooner  she 
submits  to  the  inflexible  decrees  of  fate,  the  greater  will  be 
her  prospect  of  sharing  with  the  rest  of  the  world  in  the  ad 
vantages  of  commercial  relations  with  the  new  and  rich 
countries  whose  trade  is  now  thrown  open  to  competition. 
She  is  at  present  overwhelmed  with  public  debt;  and,  if  she 
is  wise,  Cuba  may  be  purchased  from  her  at  a  price  which  will 
relieve  her  of  a  considerable  part  of  her  burthens,  or  which 
at  least  will  give  her  some  instant  relief.  To  this  plan  the 
other  powers  of  Europe  ought  not  to  oppose  any  objections ; 
because  it  cannot  be  for  their  well  understood  interest  that 
the  countries,  from  which  they  will  derive  vast  resources,  and 
with  which  they  will  have  have  an  incalculable  amount  of 
trade,  should  be  kept  in  a  state  of  alarm  and  of  war :  while 
such  a  state  of  things  exists,  the  late  colonies  cannot  devote 
themselves  fully  to  the  production  of  the  means  of  purchasing 
what  Europe  is  prepared  to  supply  to  them ;  of  course  every 
hour  of  delay  is  an  injury  to  the  subjects  of  the  only  powers 
whose  opposition  is  to  be  apprehenjded,  or  whose  objections 
can  be  made  good  by  force.  They  must  also  be  convinced, 
by  this  time,  of  the  truth  of  what  has  been  so  often  stated 
by  their  politicians,  that  Spain  will  never  occupy  herself  in 
increasing  her  internal  resources  so  as  to  become  an  effi 
cient  member  of  the  European  system,  which  is  necessary 
to  their  beau  ideal  of  a  balance  of  power,  until  she  is  com 
pletely  weaned  from  the  delusions  of  her  colonial  dreams, 
and  from  the  consequent  desultory  and  impotent  condition 
to  which  she  is  reduced.  They  are  therefore  directly  inte 
rested,  even  in  order  to  strengthen  the  great  features  of 
European  policy,  in  advocating,  instead  of  opposing,  a  ces 
sion  of  Cuba. 

But  what  are  these  arguments'?     They  are  to  shew  that 


.  .      87 

wise  men,  good  men  (these  are  convertible  terms)  or  generous 
men,  would  take  pleasure  in  seeing  a  continent  placed  in  a 
position  which  would  insure  its  safety  and  peace,  while 
an  ample  field  would  be  opened  for  the  exercise  of  all  the 
grander  human  passions  within  its  shores.  Love  of  glory 
would  find  unbounded  scope  for  action  in  the  wide  range 
presented  by  the  numerous  nations,  now  in  the  earliest  stage 
of  their  youth:  and  where  is  there  a  glory  comparable  to 
that  of  improving  society  and  of  adding  to  the  happiness  of 
our  species — so  blest  a  glory — whose  holocaust  is  the  ho 
mage  of  hearts  9  Ambition,  or  desire  of  governing,  will  be, 
or  ought  to  be,  a  desire  of  governing  under  the  will  and  ac 
cording  to  the  inclination  of  the  citizens  of  a  country.  Am 
bition  for  the  fame  of  strengthening  and  consolidating  the 
power  civil  or  military  of  a  nation,  has  almost  boundless 
opportunity  for  exercise  in  the  new  states — all  the  grand 
emotions  in  their  best  dictates,  regulated  by  public  will,  and 
directed  to  public  good,  not  those  which  lead  men  to  sacri 
fice  their  species  to  bloody  and  devastating  personal  tri 
umphs — all  will  have,  in  the  consolidated  interests  of  the 
continent,  abundant  field  for  their  display  and  their  exercise; 
they  will  have  sufficient  employment  at  home  to  prevent 
their  seeking  it  across  the^sea;  they  will  make  their  own 
land  powerful  enough  to  resist  foreign  aggression,  but  the 
distances  are  too  great  for  them  to  think  of,  and  every  other 
reason  will  dictate  to  them  to  abstain  from,  aggressions  on 
Europe;  indeed  the  strength  of  the  countries  will  be  re 
quired  to  support  the  fabric  of  their  own  system,  without 
any  to  spare  for  foreign  outrage ;  their  strength  applicable 
to  foreign  powers  will  only  be  that  of  resistance  to  attack. 
To  these  ought  to  be  added  the  wish  that  the  country,  which 
would,  at  a  first  and  contracted  view,  appear  to  suffer  injury 
by  the  loss  of  a  colony,  should  by  this  loss  of  an  excres 
cence  be  obliged  to  turn  her  undivided  attention  to  her  do 
mestic  situation,  and  thus  recover  her  station  in  the  great 
family  of  nations,  and  re-establish  the  prosperity  and  happi 
ness  of  her  people. 

Such  ideas  as  these  would  govern,  if  statesmen  were  truly 

*.  • 

*    •  -  * 

i 


88 


wise  j  but  ours  is  not  the  golden  age,  and  we  must  take  men 
as  we  find  them :  history  shews  us  by  precedent  what  we  are 
to  expect ;  passions  of  a  thousand  different  shades,  and  in 
terests  of  collective  bodies  and  orders,  or  of  mere  indivi 
duals,  will  continue  to  govern  the  world.  Therefore,  some 
powers  will  be  jealous  of  the  rising  importance  of  Ame 
rica,  forgetting  the  living  example  before  their  eyes,  in  which 
they  see  that  all  Europe,  and  especially  the  country  which 
was  said  fifty  years  since  to  have  lost  the  brighest  jewel 
in  her  diadem,  has  derived  ten  fold  the  wealth  to  indivi 
duals  and  ten  fold  the  revenue  to  her  government  by  her  in 
tercourse  with  the  United  States  that  she  ever  obtained  from 
them  while  they  were  her  colonies.  They  will  suppose  then, 
that,  if  Spain  is  to  part  with  Cuba,  they  might  as  well  suc 
ceed  her  in  possession  of  it ;  and  they  will  oppose  the  acces 
sion  of  that  island  to  the  American  system.  But  opposition 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  Cuba  must  belong  to  Amer 
ica,  and  she  will  be  amalgamated  before  many  years  expire. 
It  may  cost  a  war ;  although,  if  Europe  sees  her  own  in 
terest  clearly,  she  will  not  resort  to  such  an  extremity.  War 
or  not  war,  Cuba  must  be  American ;  the  interest  and  the 
welfare  of  a  continent  demand  it. 

Let  me  for  a  moment  collate  some  facts,  At  the  congress 
of  Panama  were  assembled  the  most  powerful  of  the  Hispano- 
American  states;  certain  treaties  were  concluded  there,  of 
which  an  outline  was  published  ;  and  certain  secret  articles 
or  treaties  were  also  made.  The  proceedings  appear  to 
have  been  of  two  great  importance  to  be  entrusted  to  com 
mon  messengers  ;  this  is  a  fair  inference,  for  one  of  the  min 
isters  of  each  party  carried  them  home  to  their  respective 
governments.  England  was  represented  at  the  congress,  or 
at  least  she  had  a  commissioner  on  the  spot ;  and  judging  from 
%  her  course  of  diplomacy,  she  must  have  penetrated  the  se 
cret  of  the  private  articles.  The  United  States  were  not 
represented  then,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  one  of  the 
envoys,  and  the  absence  of  the  other  in  consequence  of  no 
body  knows  what,  The  effect  of  the  United  States  not  be 
ing  represented  at  the  congress,  however,  has  been  that  we 


89 


could  not  know  the  nature  of  the  secret  conventions ;  at 
any  rate  we  could  not  know  them  with  the  same  certainty 
that  the  English  government  does  ;  we  must  therefore  infer 
their  tenor  from  circumstances. 

A  report  was  universally  prevalent  for  some  time  preceding 
the  congress,  which  seemed  to  be  countenanced  by  various 
expressions  of  public  documents  of  the  Hispano-American 
governments,  and  which  was  corroborated  by  the  evident 
and  natural  interest  of  those  states ;  the  rumour  was,  that 
an  invasion  of  Cuba  would  be  made  by  the  confederated 
forces  of  the  new  states.  Our  own  president  gave  cre 
dence  and  currency  to  the  idea,  by  stating  as  one  of  his 
motives  for  sending  commissioners  to  the  congress,  that  he 
wished  to  influence  the  parties  to  abstain  from  such  a  de 
sign.  The  absence  of  any  representative  of  the  United  States, 
after  the  violent  discussions  last  winter  upon  the  subject, 
certainly  afforded  to  the  congress  at  Panama  a  pretext,  and 
no  slight  grounds  for  a  real  belief,  that  we  were  not  very 
much  in  earnest  about  any  of  the  objects  that  were  talked 
of  as  being  intended  by  us  :  therefore,  after  waiting  a  most 
unreasonable  time,  the  conferences  were  opened,  and  va 
rious  treaties  concluded,  among  which  were  the  secret  con 
ventions.  Previously,  and  during  at  the  time  the  congress 
was  assembling,  several  movements,  directed  towards  the 
coast,  took  place  among  the  troops  of  the  parties,  which  all 
the  world  said  were  preparatory  to  the  invasion  of  Cuba ;  and 
what  all  the  world  says,  although  it  may  be  mistaken  in  de 
tails,  has  always  some  foundation  in  fact.  These  movements 
were  suspended,  for  which  the  reasons  are  perfectly  mani 
fest,  they  were  the  disturbances  in  Lima,  and  in  Venezuela. 
At  a  distance  we  only  hear  of  such  things  after  they  break 
out*  ;  but  a  watchful  government  on  the  spot  sees  the  germs 


*  The  dates  are  as  follows :  the  first  explosion  in  Venezuela  was  at  Valencia 
on  the  30th  of  April  1826;  Paez's  first  proclamation,  on  the  3d  of  May:  the 
conspiracy  in  Peru,  in  which  admiral  Guisse  and  general  Necochea  were  impli 
cated,  was  discovered  on  the  28th  July :  and  the  disturbances  in  Guatemala  broke 
out  in  June  :  and  those  in  the  southern  part  of  Mexico  appeared  nearly 

at  the  same  time.    If  these  conspiracies  had  not  a  common  origin,  they  exhibit 
the  most  remarkable  coincidence  in  history. 
. 

- 

- 


/•- 

90 

when  they  only  begin  to  sprout :  this  accounts  for  the  sus 
pension  of  the  movements  of  the  troops  before  most  of  us 
in  this  country  were  informed  of  the  approaching  uneasiness. 
It  even  appears  possible  that  the  squadron  sent  round  by 
Chili,  which  must  have  sailed  from  the  shore  of  the  Pacific 
at  nearly  the  period  when  the  other  military  movements  be 
gan,  was  intended  as  much  to  serve  for  an  accessary  to  the 
grand  design  as  for  an  augmentation  of  the  force  of  Bue 
nos  Ayres.  Isolated  facts,  when  brought  together,  as 
sume  a  marked  significancy.  Spain  is  indebted  to  England 
many  millions,  and  has  been  pressed  more  than  once  to  ar 
range  this  debt ;  not  long  ago,  at  about  the  time  when  the 
invasion  of  Cuba  was  most  talked  of,  it  was  said  that  Eng 
land  threatened  to  pay  herself,  if  Spain  did  not  meet  her 
demands  :  almost  concurrently  with  this  report  came  out 
another,  that  Spain  was  about  to  commit  for  a  time  the  cus 
tody  of  Cuba  to  one  of  the  great  European  powers,  and 
France  was  indicated  as  being  the  one  intended.  Spain 
however  was  very  soon  said  to  be  making  great  exertions  to 
reinforce  Cuba ;  troops  and  ships  actually  came  out.  As 
soon  as  the  congress  of  Panama  adjourned,  with  the  view 
of  meeting  at  Tacubaya,  Mr  Dawkins  the  British  envoy 
sailed  for  England  :  there  was  just  time  for  him  to  arrive  to 
make  his  communications,  for  the  cabinet  to  determine  upon 
its  course,  and  for  the  intelligence  to  reach  us,  when  another 
report,  which  has  been  current  within  a  few  days  of  my  wri 
ting  this  sentence,  reaches  us,  that  England  is  about  to  take 
possession  of  Cuba.  While  all  these  transactions  are  on 
foot,  England  betrays  more  and  more  jealousy  of  our  rela 
tions  with  the  colonies ;  exhibiting  it.  in  the  negociations 
now  broken  off,  with  respect  to  her  own  possessions ;  and 
now  it  appears  that  our  affairs  with  her  are  in  a  very 
ticklish  posture  ;  this  appears  not  only  by  the  communi 
cations  to  congress,  and  by  her  recent  proclamation,  but 
also  by  her  presses  which  seem  to  be  trying  to  excite  the 
feelings  of  her  people  against  us  by  the  revival  of  almost 
forgotten  subjects  of  discussion,  by  the  acrimonious  censure 
of  our  proceedings  in  regard  to  some  of  the  yet  unexecuted 
articles  of  our  treaties  with  her,  and  by  exclaiming  against 


91 

our  general  conduct  as  well  as  the  designs  they  attribute  to 
us*.  All  these  reports  are  familiar  to  the  whole  community 
and  have  run  the  rounds  of  our  gazettes ;  I  am  not  one  of 
those  political  "  quid  nuncs"  who  see  cause  of  alarm  in 
every  idle  rumour,  nor  do  I  fancy  that  the  above  have  been 
perfectly  correct  in  all  their  details :  but  as  state  secrets 
almost  always  break  out,  as  the  enumerated  reports  have 
obtained  universal  currency,  and  as  they  have  a  remarkable 
coincidence,  not  only  with  each  other,  but  also  with  those 
things  which  we  know  to  be  facts  from  official  documents  or 
publications,  I  am  led  irresistably  to  the  conclusion  that 
there  have  been,  or  do  exist,  some  considerable  grounds  for 
them,  that  the  matters  to  which  they  refer  have  been  seriously 
discussed  in  high  quarters,  and  that  various  projects  of  simi 
lar  nature  have  been  entertained,  particularly  in  Spain  and 
in  England,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  Cuba  from  being 
united  to  the  American  system,  and  for  either  preserving  her 
in  her  present  condition,  or  for  placing  her  in  the  hands  of 
a  power  better  able  than  Spain  to  defend  the  possession ; 
finally,  I  infer  that  it  is  a  settled  determination  abroad  that 
Cuba  shall  still  be  European,  and  that  the  mouth  of  the 
Mexican  gulf  shall  continue  to  be  guarded  against  American 
interests  ;  the  coincidence  of  so  many  facts  and  reports,  which 
do  not  strike  one  until  they  are  brought  together  into  one 
view,  oblige  my  mind  to  come  to  such  conclusions.  It  is 
almost  certain  that  Cuba  will  have  to  be  fought  for  some 
day  or  other ;  but  it  will  be  a  curious  event  if  the  contest 
arrives  so  soon,  and  with  a  power  to  which  she  does  not  be 
long. 

Does  there  exist  any  where  a  desire  to  monopolize  the 
West  Indian  islands'?  The  Dutch,  Danish,  and  Swedish 
islands  contain  a  population  of  84,500  souls,  of  which  61,300 
are  slaves ;  viz.  St  Eustache  and  Saba,  St  Martin,  Curacoa, 
St  Croix,  St  Thomas,  St  John,  St  Bartholomew ;  the  French 
islands  219,000,  of  which  178,000  slaves,  viz.  Guadeloupe 
and  its  dependencies  St  Maria  Galante,  La  Desiderade,  and 
part  of  St  Martin's  and  Martinique;  the  Spanish  islands 


This  section  was  written  in  December. 


92 

943,000,  of  which  28 1,400  slaves,  viz.  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico, 
Marguerita  which  is  included  by  Humboldt  in  these  numbers 
now  is  Colombian  and  has  1 5,000  inhabitants* ;  the  English 
islands  776,500,  of  which  626,800  slaves,  viz.  Jamaica,  Bar- 
badoes,  Antigua,  St  Kitts,  Nevis,  Grenada,  St  Vincent,  and 
the  Grenadines,  Dominica,  Montzerat,  the  Virgin  isles,  Ane- 
gada,  Virgin  Gorda,  and  Tortola,  Tobago,  Anguilla,  and 
Barbuda,  Trinidad,  St  Lucie,  the  Bahama  islands :  the  ano 
maly  Haity  containing  820,000,  of  which  30,000  are  whitesf. 
This  list  I  think  answers  the  question. 

If  the  islands  are  to  be  absorbed  by  an  overweening 
power,  the  necessity  of  adding  Cuba  to  the  American  sys 
tem  is  becoming  doubly  imperious  $  Trinidad  ought  also  to 
be  attached,  in  order  to  complete  the  defence  of  the  gulf 
and  the  Caribbean  sea. 


i 


CHAPTER  XI. 


ROM  the  West  Indies  let  us  return  to  South  America. 
So  little  is  known  in  this  country  with  certainty  or  in  de 
tail  about  Guatemala,  or  the  republic  of  central  America, 
that  I  cannot  pretend  to  speculate  in  relation  to  it.  All  I 
will  say  is,  that  their  condition,  their  form  of  government,  in 
stitutions,  and  future  destiny,  must  be  materially  influenced 
by  the  attitudes  of  Mexico  and  of  Colombia.  The  govern 
ment  of  Guatemala  will  no  doubt  surmount  its  present  dif 
ficulties,  and  the  state  of  society  is  not  more  irregular  than 
is  toi)e  expected  in  a  country  whose  independence  is  so  new. 


*  Noticia  sobre  la  Geografia  Politica  de  Colombia,  p.  16. 
t  I  refer  again  to  Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  IT. 


93 

The  utmost  population  which  I  have  seen  assigned  to  this  con 
federation  is  1,800,000;  but  it  appears  to  be  probable  that  it 
does  not  much  exceed  1 ,200,000 :  placed  between  Mexico 
and  Colombia  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  the  inclination 
of  the  government  and  inhabitants,  as  there  is  none  of  her 
interest  and  of  her  destiny,  to  be  united  to  the  general  sys 
tem  of  America. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


OLOMBIA,  in  1823,  contained  2,785,000  souls,  equal  to 
thirty  to  the  square  league,  or  more  probably  2,900,000*  ;  at 
this  date  it  is  likely  that  the  population  is  above  3,000,000 ; 
the  Exposicion  que  el  Secretario  de  Estado  del  despacho  del 
interior,  &c.  to  the  congress  of  1826,  p.  15,  speaks  of  the 
population  at  3,000,000f .  The  population  of  Venezuela  was, 
in  1822,  785,000 J,  or  twenty-three  souls  to  the  square  league. 
Of  the  total  of  2,785,000,  Humboldt  calculates  the  whites 
to  be  only  642,000,  the  Indians  720,000,  and  the  mixed 
races  1,256,000;  the  blacks  he  does  not  specifically  distin 
guish,  but  from  the  above  numbers  they  would  be  167,000; 
and  yet  he  assigns  only  387,000  to  the  whole  of  continental 
Spanish  America^.  I  am  obliged  to  doubt  the  exact  accu 
racy  of  these  calculations,  again  protesting  that  I  almost  feel 


*  Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  127. 

f  But  by  Noticia  sobre  la  Geografia  Politica  de  Colombia,  &c.  ed.  Bogota, 
1825,  pp.  3.  47.  the  population  is  given  at  2,700,000  souls,  equal  to  29  per  square 
league. 

J  There  is  a  singular  discrepancy  between  Humboldt  and  the  Noticia  sobre  la 
Geografia,  on  this  enumeration.  See  note  in  page  104. 

§  Humboldt,  Part  II.  pp.  835,  836. 

N 


94 

myself  wrong  whenever  I  differ  from  him.  He  estimates  the 
area  of  the  territory  of  the  republic  at  91,952  square  ma 
rine  leagues,  of  which  Venezuela  33,701*. 

This  vast  republic,  whose  territory  is  equal  to  much  more 
than  the  half  of  the  entire  territory  of  the  United  States,  to 
more  -than  one  and  a  third  times  that  of  Mexico,  and  whose 
population  is  more  than  half  the  average  of  ours  per  square 
league,  abounding  in  or  capable  of  yielding  every  commodity 
which  can  make  a  nation  rich,  with  a  long  extent  of  sea  coast, 
is  certainly  destined  to  occupy  a  distinguished  position  in  the 
human  family.  The  character  of  its  inhabitants,  or  at  least 
of  that  portion  of  them  which  appears  to  possess,  and  which 
no  doubt  will  retain,  the  ascendancy,  the  whites,  seems  to 
be  marked  with  as  strong  features  as  any  of  the  Hispano- 
American  people;  the  whole  course  of  the  revolutionary 
contest  among  them,  and  even  the  effervescences  which  have 
taken  place  in  the  country,  corroborate  this  idea;  and  for 
some  time  past  it  has  attracted  the  largest  share  of  public 
attention  :  it  has  also  taken  the  lead  in  the  most  important 
question  that  ever  occupied  America  and  the  world;  no 
slight  proof  this  of  the  vigour  of  Colombian  intellect,  that 
it  should  have  emanated  from  the  gigantic  mind  of  one  great 
man  born  on  her  soil,  who  is  not  contented  with  having 
hewn  out  her  independence  with  his  sword  at  the  head  of 
her  brave  citizens,  but  who  extends  his  magnificent  ambition 
to  the  permanent  establishment  of*  her  prosperity. 

The  greater  part  of  the  political  considerations  which 
were  dwelt  upon  in  speaking  of  Mexico,  apply  to  Colombia ; 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  repeat  them.  But  the  great  point 
for  our  meditation  is  the  permanency  of  her  government.  I 
approach  this  subject  with  that  apprehension  which  must 
arise  in  a  writer's  breast  when  he  attempts  to  prognosticate 
the  destinies  of  a  nation  while  unfavourable  rumours  are 
afloat,  and  while  there  is  an  actual  excitement  existing  in 
the -country,  which  may  possibly  contradict  his  conclusions 
•before  his  sheets  pass  through  the  press.  What  is  written 

,'    , _|'jr' 

*  Humboldt,  Part  I.  p.  160.     See  also  Noticia  sobre  la  Geografia,  &c.  p.  45. 


95 

may  tunrout  to  be  erroneous  ;  but  it  must  be  risked,  relying 
upon  the  general  accuracy  of  the  data,  collated  with  some 
labour,  leaving  the  demonstration  of  the  correctness  of  the 
inductions  to  future  events,  and  to  the  judgment  of  my  rea 
ders. 

I  do  not  consider  the  disturbances  in  Colombia  as  likely  to 
terminate  either  in  the  dismemberment  of  the  nation  or  in 
the  overthrow  of  the  government.  There  is  a  natural  cohe 
sion  among  the  inhabitants  of  each  of  the  former  viceroyal- 
ties,  which  constitutes  a  national  identity,  and  which  can  be 
dissevered  by  nothing  short  of  conquest.  The  same  feeling 
existed  in  the  United  States,  and  constituted  the  real  demar- 
kation  between  the  cidevant  colonies.  A  tendency  to  direct 
their  views  towards  the  same  metropolis,  a  concentration 
of  those  who  have  business  with  the  government  at  the  same 
points,  a  frequent  and  familiar  intercourse  brought  about  by 
these  causes,  habits  of  business  together  also  induced  by 
them,  and  a  consequent  connection  of  interest,  all  combined, 
create  that  kind  of  sympathy  which  unites  masses  of  men 
into  nations.  We  cannot  at  once  reconcile  to  our  habits  of 
thinking  in  this  country  (where  we  are  accustomed  to  regard 
the  former  provinces  as  distinct  states)  the  strong  cohesion 
of  the  different  provinces  of  the  late  viceroyalties;  and  we 
seem  to  look  for  it  as  a  thing  to  be  expected,  that  the  pro 
vinces  should  be  states  like  our  own;  but  in  order  to  follow 
our  example  to  the  letter,  the  different  viceroyalties  would 
be  separate  states,  as  in  fact  they  now  are ;  they  formerly 
bore  the  same  relation  to  one  another  that  we  did  in  our 
colonial  condition,  separately  governed,  and  with  no  other 
immediate  bond  of  connection  than  the  common,  but  indivi 
dual,  allegiance  to  the  same  sovereign.  Our  position  would 
probably  be  now  different  if  the  plan  proposed  in  the  year 
1754  of  a  confederation,  among  the  then  colonies,  had  been 
adopted  by  them  and  by  the  British  government,  or  if  it  had 
created  a  governor  general  here,  as  in  India,  and  if  such  ar 
rangements  had  endured  for  some  twenty  or  fifty  years.  If 
the  whole  of  Spanish  America  were  to  form  one  grand  con 
federation,  retaining  the  local  governments  of  the  several 
states,  the  parallel  with  our  institutions  would  be  complete. 


96 

We  might  as  well  expect  the  different  counties  of  our  states 
to  assume  the  shape  of  independent  but  allied  powers,  as  to 
anticipate  such  events  from  the  different  provinces  of  the 
late  viceroyalties;  the  political  or  governmental  divisions 
were  not  more  strongly  marked  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other,  nor  do  the  amounts  of  population  differ  so  widely  as  to 
render  the  comparison  inapplicable.  Mexico  and  the  late 
captain  generalship  of  Guatemala  have  closely  imitated  our 
forms  it  is  true,  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether,  in  spite 
of  the  extent  of  the  regions  they  cover,  it  would  not  have 
been  better  for  them  to  govern  themselves  by  means  of  one 
general  congress,  in  place  of  subjecting  themselves  to  the 
enormous  expense  and  other  inconveniences  of  many  distinct 
legislatures.  In  this  country  it  was  impossible  that  any  thing 
else  could  take  place ;  we  were  already  separated  into  dis 
tinct  governments,  as  the  Spanish  Americas  into  viceroyal 
ties,  and  it  is  always  impossible  to  change  suddenly  the 
habits,  dispositions,  modes  of  thinking,  or  prejudices  of  a  peo 
ple.  The  great  Peter  incurred  the  greatest  hazard  when  he 
commanded  his  subjects  to  shave  themselves,  and  the  Sultan 
would  lose  his  head  if  he  were  to  attempt  to  force  his  subjects 
to  wear  tight  clothing ;  one  of  his  predecessors  did  actually 
lose  his  life  in  consequence  of  his  undertaking  to  put  his  Jani 
zaries  or  the  Bostangies  into  something  like  European  uni 
forms  and  to  form  their  line  of  battle  like  men  of  sense.  If  such 
trifles  could  convulse  nations,  how*  absurd  would  it  be  to  at 
tempt  to  do  violence  to  the  prejudices  of  the  people  in  the  fun 
damental  principles  of  government.  In  order  to  change  them, 
a  long  time,  and  the  actual  presence  of  an  overpowering  force 
at  the  commencement,  are  requisite.  The  identity  or  indivi 
duality  of  nations  is  changed  with  much  greater  difficulty; 
many  ages  elapsed  before  the  Saxons  and  the  Gauls  lost  their 
nationality  in  their  countries  and  formed  each  one  nation  with 
their  conquerors ;  we  have  seen  Lorain  a  foreign  country  in 
France,,  almost  to  our  own  day  ;  we  now  see  Scotland  a 
separate  nation,  after  an  hundred  and  ten  years  of  union  with 
England,  and  more  than  two  hundred  since  the  race  of  Fer 
gus  the  first  began  to  wear  the  triple  crown.  And  Ireland  is 
yet  a  conquest,  and  has  no  national  identity  with  England. 


As  every  act,  since  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution  in 
Spanish  America,  has  demonstrated  that  those  countries 
which  now  form  the  different  nations  are  nations  in  sentiment, 
in  feeling,  and  in  prejudice,  I  infer  that  there  is  very  little  room 
to  apprehend  the  dismemberment  of  any  of  them.  The  very 
circumstance  that  Guatemala  and  Buenos  Ayres  have  been 
divided  into  separate  states,  the  former  in  confederation,  and 
the  latter  having  been  incessantly  in  dispute  with  some  of 
the  provinces  and  having  had  Paraguay  and  the  Banda  Ori 
ental  separated  from  her,  proves  my  position  ;  their  want  of 
national  coherence  arises  from  these  viceroyalties  having 
had  some  of  their  provinces  annexed  to  them  at  different 
times,  and  in  some  instances  separated  from  them  and  then 
reunited,  as  suited  the  views  of  the  Spanish  government. 
Thus,  not  having  been  ab  initio  consolidated  governments, 
they  never  acquired  national  consistency.  It  would  swell 
this  memoir  too  much  to  give  a  history  of  these  changes, 
which  are  familiar  to  those  who  have  paid  attention  to  the 
annals  of  Spanish  America ;  I  will  therefore  only  point  out 
the  most  remarkable  case  to  support  my  reasoning,  which  is 
that  of  Paraguay,  now  as  much  independent  of  the  govern 
ment  of  Buenos  Ayres,  as  it  was  under  its  first  priestly  mas 
ters  before  it  was  united  to  the  late  viceroyalty ;  indeed  the 
instance  is  the  stronger,  because  Paraguay  has  reverted  to  an 
isolation  for  which  its  first  government  gave  the  example. 
I  instance  also  the  Banda  Oriental,  which  has  been  the  sub 
ject  of  dispute  between  Spain  and  Portugal  from  its  first  set 
tlement. 

Colombia  then  will  not  be  separated.  It  may  be  that 
some  change  from  the  present  form  may  take  place  in  the 
administration  of  the  local  concerns  of  the  late  provinces  or 
capitancias  generales,  but  it  appears  to  me  that  even  if  cabil- 
dos  or  juntas  in  the  several  provinces  were  to  be  endowed 
with  considerable  powers  in  relation  to  local  concerns  (and 
I  am  persuaded  this  will  be  the  utmost  extent  of  any  altera 
tions)  the  nationality,  the  cohesion  of  the  people,  are  too 
deeply  rooted  to  be  eradicated  by  any  events  within  the 
scope  of  probability.  The  late  disturbances  in  Venezuela  bear 
the  impress  on  their  front  of  mere  desire  for  personal  aggran- 


98 

dizement  of  one  or  two  individuals,  or  of  personal  and  indi 
vidual  discontent  of  one  or  two  chieftains.  This  is  evident 
from  the  very  outside  of  the  affair,  and  it  is  confirmed  by 
private  anecdotes  and  information  to  which  it  is  not  for  me 
to  give  publicity  :  if  a  person  is  said  to  be  discontented  with 
not  having  the  position  in  the  government  assigned  to  him 
to  which  he  supposes  the  agency  he  had  in  the  cabinet  work 
of  the  revolution  entitles  him,  or  if  another  is  said  to  find  it  out 
of  his  power  to  make  up  his  public  accounts  with  any  degree 
of  accuracy,  or  to  pay  over  the  balances  against  him,  or  to  ac 
count  for  their  loss  by  any  excusable  reason  ;  if  such  causes  as 
these  are  assigned  for  some  of  the  movements,  far  be  it  from  me 
to  "give  them  a  local  habitation  and  a  name."  The  recent 
proceedings  in  Venezuela  attracted  considerable  attention  : 
but  it  certainly  is  a  curious  idea  to'infer  that  those  proceed 
ings  have  the  sanction  of  the  people's  inclination  and  will, 
when  Caraccas  at  first  refused  to  join  in  the  designs  which 
were  said  to  be  popular  and  adopted  by  general  consent  in 
other  places,  in  consequence  of  which  the  ostensible  chief  of 
the  insurrection  marched  upon  the  town  with  a  considerable 
number  of  troops  ;  in  order  to  render  the  project  popular  I 
suppose ;  then  this  chief  earnestly  advised  the  city  to  adopt 
the  plan  proposed,  and  it  was  so  adopted,  by  acclamation. 
This  is  the  drollest  way  of  making  a  thing  popular  that  has 
been  yet  devised ;  we  have  heard  of  various  modes  of  soli 
citation  and  of  coaxing,  but  coaxing  with  the  bayonet  is 
something  entirely  out  of  the  common  line.  Nevertheless, 
whatever,  or  whoever,  may  be  popular,  there  is  a  popularity 
throughout  Colombia,  manifested  in  every  act  and  proclaimed 
in  every  paper,  which  is  paramount  to  every  other ;  it  is  the 
dearly  purchased  and  well  deserved  popularity  of  Bolivar, 
on  whose  valuable  life  the  destinies  of  Colombia  most  essen 
tially  depend.  It  seems  necessary  in  the  great  emergencies 
of  nations,  that  public  sentiment  should  be  concentrated  to 
one  point  and  directed  by  one  individual,  upon  whose  intelli 
gence  and  virtue,  or  the  want  of  them,  hangs  the  future 
situation  of  the  country,  its  happiness  and  prosperity,  or  the 
reverse :  and  heaven  appears  always  to  raise  up  at  the  crisis 
some  one  to  be  an  instrument  in  its  hands ;  history  is  full  of 


such  men,  the  Tells,  the  Washingtons,  the  Bolivars,  who 
emancipated  countries ;  nor  will  posterity  forget  him  who 
rescued  his  country  from  the  most  horrible  condition  into 
which  a  civilized  nation  could  fall ;  posterity  will  say  that 
Napoleon  was  one  of  those  instruments  of  heaven  which  are 
necessary  in  the  critical  moments  of  nations,  in  the  agony  of 
revolutions — posterity  will  say  so,  even  when  it  acknow 
ledges  that  he  forced  his  beautiful  France  on  to  her  welfare 
with  too  strong  a  hand,  and  that  he  sacrificed  other  nations 
by  hecatombs  to  her  glory — but  where  is  the  man  who  would 
not  sacrifice  the  earth  to  his  country  9  The  engine  of  go 
vernment  in  Colombia  was  in  operation  with  considerable 
regularity  for  some  time ;  long  enough  to  extend  the  liga 
ments  of  society  and  the  communications  of  the  authorities 
very  generally  through  the  community  :  this  being  the  case, 
the  persons  at  the  head  of  affairs  may  be  changed,  but  their 
places  will  be  supplied  by  fresh  individuals,  who  will  have 
the  same  interests  and  the  same  views  as  their  predecessors, 
when  they  are  established  in  the  preeminence.  Man  is  the 
same  always ;  there  must  be  a  head  to  every  society,  in  Caffra- 
ria  as  in  Rome  ;  the  name  of  the  office  and  the  occupant 
may  be  changed,  but  the  substance  remains  the  same  ;  call 
it  khan,  chief,  or  Caesar,  it  it  is  still  the  head  of  the  govern 
ment  :  the  modification  of  power  is  the  result  of  the  mode  of 
thinking  of  the  people;  and  of  course  it  would  be  as  impossi 
ble  for  a  mortal  man  to  be  a  tyrant  among  us,  by  whatever 
empty  title  he  might  be  styled,  as  it  would  be  for  a  Turk  to 
be  a  republican  :  the  whole  moral  constitution  of  the  people 
must  undergo  a  complete  metamorphosis  first ;  it  is  possible 
for  divine  providence  to  work  this  by  a  miracle,  or  that  a  com 
bination  of  causes  might  produce  it  in  the  lapse  of  a  long 
period  ;  but  nothing  else  could  effect  it.  Therefore  whatever 
be  the  nature  of  the  powers  ascribed  by  the  general  disposi 
tion  of  a  people  to  its  magistracy,  those  powers  will  be  pos 
sessed  by  the  persons  in  authority,  how  often  so  ever 
the  occupants  may  be  changed.  The  only  difficulty  in  ap- 
•  plying  these  axiomata  to  real  life  is  in  discovering  what  is 
really  the  disposition  of  the  great  majority  of  the  people,  and 


100 

upon  this  point  men  will  differ  as  long  as  they  do  not  all  see 
through  the  same  eyes. 

The  data  which  have  been  enumerated  are  sufficient  to 
convince  myself,  although  I  cannot  answer  for  their  having 
the  same  effect  upon  others,  that  the  people  at  large  of  Co 
lombia  are  not  disposed  to  change  the  fundamental  princi 
ples  of  their  government,  which  therefore  possesses  the  prin 
ciple  of  fundamental  durability :  although  it  may  and  most 
probably  will  be  remodelled  in  some  of  the  details,  and  per 
haps  it  may  temporarily  assume  some  appearances  which  at 
first  view  may  seem  to  indicate  a  very  considerable  change 
of  system ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that  in  its  essence,  in  its 
vital  principles,  it  will  be  essentially  different  from  its  actual 
state :  for  if  they  should  have  a  nominal  dictator  for  a  time, 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  disposition  of  the  people  would 
permit  him  to  be  a  tyrant,  still  less  do  I  believe  that  Bolivar, 
the  only  man  who  could  be  dictator,  would  be  a  tyrant  under 
any  circumstances. 

Is  this  government,  or  will  it  be,  republican,  democratic  ? 
No ;  not  according  to  the  signification  we  affix  to  these  terms. 
Can  it  be  imagined  that  there  can  exist  any  thing  like  an  ac 
tual  equality  of  rights,  privileges,  and  of  eligibility  to  office 
in  a  nation  of  642,000  whites  with  the  greatest  part  of  them 
arms  in  their  hands,  certainly  very  brave,  the  descendants  of 
the  conquerors,  with  all  their  recollections  fresh  of  their  su 
premacy,  with  all  the  prejudices  and  pride  of  the  nobility 
of  their  colour,  as  De  Pradt  calls  it — of  about  170,000  ne 
groes,  of  720,000  Indians,  and  of  1,256,000  of  mixed  races, 
with  the  education  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  whites, 
and  by  no  means  general  among  them.  It  is  impossible  that 
such  a  country  should  be  democratic  at  present,  there  are 
too  many  means  of  defence  in  hands  of  the  superior  class ; 
the  discordancy  of  the  colours  is  a  most  important  barrier, 
since  with  mere  ordinary  tact  the  whites  could  always  array 
the -other  colours  against  one  another;  the  habits  of  obe 
dience,  the  custom,  which  has  hardened  into  a  disposition, 
among  the  whites  themselves  to  follow  a  chief  and  to  range 
themselves  under  his  banners,  is  another  formidable  impedi 
ment  to  the  establishment  of  democracy.  Any  republic  in 


101 

Colombia,  until  a  considerable  time  elapses,  and  until  edu 
cation  and  information  diffuse  themselves  much  more  gene 
rally  than  at  present,  will  be  upon  the  model  of  a  Spartan 
republic — which,  in  spite  of  the  glittering  deceptions  thrown 
over  it  by  our  school  studies,  was  not  a  democracy.  But 
Colombia  will  enjoy  very  liberal  institutions  ;  all  the  great 
immunities  of  society  will  be  faithfully  and  powerfully  main 
tained  ;  life,  liberty,  and  property,  of  the  poor,  or  of  the  infe 
rior  classes,  whether  black  or  of  the  mixed  colours,  will 
be  defended  from  aggressions  of  the  rich  or  dominant,  as 
much  as  they  can  be  in  any  form  of  government ;  for  in  any 
country  a  bold  bad  man,  having  acquired  the  affection  of  the 
majority  of  those  who  reside  around  him,  may  commit  acts 
of  individual  outrage  which  are  difficult  to  punish  ;  the  at 
tachment  of  his  neighbours  alone  is  adequate  to  shield  him  : 
but  in  Colombia  there  will  be  a  strong  protection  of  the  first 
classes  against  encroachments  of  the  others.  The  habitual 
deference  of  the  other  colours  to  the  whites,  and  the  clan 
nish  disposition,  or  rather  the  vestiges  of  feodal  prejudices 
among  the  whites,  will  tend  to  preserve  the  present  condition 
of  society.  As  to  equality  in  the  distribution  of  offices,  it 
will  follow  the  same  course ;  the  prejudice  or  sentiment  of 
inferiority  among  the  subordinate  castes,  and  the  habit  of 
command,  as  well  as  the  natural  cohesion  among  the  domin 
ant  colour,  will,  without  recurrence  to  the  letter  of  the  laws, 
prevent  the  superiority  of  the  whites,  and  of  the  chiefs  among 
that  colour,  from  being  subverted.  Nothing  but  time,  accom 
panied  by  sedulous  cultivation  of  generally  diffused  educa 
tion,  can  efface  these  prejudices,  with  their  consequences ; 
and  it  remains  to  be  proved  whether  those,  who  have  now 
the  ascendant,  will  contribute  to  and  seriously  promote  such 
operations ;  knowing,  as  they  must,  that  their  result  will  be 
to  diminish  the  predominancy  of  the  present  ruling  colour. 
The  laws  and  professions  of  the  magistracy  are,  it  is  true, 
favourable  to  a  change  in  the  relative  condition  of  the  diffe 
rent  castes ;  but  these  are  not  enough,  unless  they  are  cor 
dially  supported  by  the  dispositions  of  the  people  at  large, 
and  especially  of  that  part  of  it  which  has  now  the  ascendan 
cy.  There  will  arise,  no  doubt,  many  conspicuous,  popular, 
O 


102 

influential,  and  powerful  individuals  among  the  subordinate 
castes,  who  will  force  their  way  into  power,  or  who  will  be 
placed  there  by  those  who  possess  it,  but  as  soon  as  they 
have  entered,  their  interests  will  become  identified  with  those 
of  the  persons  who  compose  the  magistracy,  and  they  will 
of  course  make  common  cause  with  them ;  so  that  the  ad 
vancement  of  a  man  of  colour,  whether  of  the  Indian  or  of 
the  African  race,  will  not  be  the  elevation  of  his  caste,  it 
will  only  be  an  exception  in  his  favour ;  it  will  not  be  the 
advancement  of  a  class,  but  only  of  an  individual.  There 
fore  I  have  no  idea  that  there  will  be  a  chance,  for  a  long 
time,  of  an  equality  in  the  distribution  of  offices  among  the 
castes  in  Colombia,  any  more  than  there  would  be  in  our 
Southern  states  :  for,  although  the  subordinate  colours  are 
technically  and  legally  free  in  Colombia,  the  prejudices  of 
colour  are  nearly  as  strong  there  as  in  our  country  ;  we  have 
seen  here  some  very  distinguished  individuals  proud  of  their 
descent  from  the  caciques  of  the  aborigines,  justly  feeling 
themselves  doubly  American  from  that  circumstance  ;  but 
nevertheless  the  Indian  tribes  have  no  political  importance ; 
it  is  the  talent,  the  personal  influence,  and  the  connections  of 
those  individuals  which  have  taken  them  out  of  their  caste, 
which  has  not  been  raised  with  them  in  the  scale  of  political 
importance.  Thus  will  it  be  in  Colombia. 

It  has  been  said  that  if  she  is  not  to  be  truly  democratic 
she  might  as  well  have  been  spared  her  revolution,  and  has 
not  gained  much  by  her  emancipation  from  Spain.  But  I 
can  not  agree  with  this ;  even  if  one  is  to  be  tyrannized  over, 
it  is  surely  better  to  have  a  tyrant  at  home  than  to  be  slaves 
to  a  tyrant  abroad  :  it  is  certainly  better  for  the  people  that 
the  revenues  of  the  country  should  be  spent  among  them  al 
though  they  were  spent  extravagantly,  instead  of  being 
drained  from  them  to  enrich  a  country  a  thousand  leagues 
off.  But  I  have  no  idea  that  such  a  fate  is  reserved  for  Co 
lombia  ;  on  the  contrary  I  have  perfect  faith  that  it  is  out  of 
the  question  while  Bolivar  lives;  he  will  not  be  a  tyrant;  and 
there  is  no  other  man  in  the  country  at  present  who  has 
popularity  or  personal  influence  enough  to  be  one  in  case  of 
Bolivar's  death :  the  influence  of  the  prominent  characters 


103 

is  not  sufficiently  universal ;  it  is  too  local,  or  confined  to 
particular  parties,  to  enable  any  one  of  them  to  seize  upon 
the  reins  of  government  with  an  absolute  hand,  even  suppo 
sing,  which  I  do  not,  that  the  people  were  prepared  for  it. 
Bolivar  is  evidently  the  only  man  to  whom  the  whole  coun 
try  looks  up,  and  who  possesses  its  unlimited  and  universal 
confidence,  and  he  is  too  great  to  be  a  tyrant. 

Colombia  will  continue  to  be  republican,  in  as  much  as  it 
will  be  governed  by  laws,  enacted  by  a  representative  legis 
lature,  and  administered  by  a  judiciary  independent  of  the 
executive.  The  representation,  as  is  evident  from  what  has 
been  said  above,  will  not  be  what  we  call  in  this  country 
purely  democratic ;  because  it  will  not  be  elected  by  uni 
versal  suffrage ;  a  considerable  portion  of  the  population  is 
not  ready  for  this  kind  of  government,  it  wants  the  requisite 
education  and  information,  and  the  minds  of  the  individuals 
have  not  yet  been  sufficiently  disciplined.  Qualifications 
for  the  electoral  privileges  will  therefore  be  adopted,  by 
which  the  rights  of  suffrage  will  be  confined  very  much  to 
that  part  of  the  population  which  is,  or  is  supposed  to  be, 
prepared  to  exercise  it  with  discretion;  and  probably  quali 
fications  for  office  will  be  required,  by  which  the  choice 
will  be  restricted  to  those  who  are  from  their  situation  in 
society,  or  who  ought  to  be,  the  best  educated  and  the  best 
informed. 

As  to  the  chief  of  the  executive  branch,  the  office  will  no 
doubt  be  invested  in,  or  continued  to  be  bestowed  upon 
Bolivar  as  long  as  he  lives,  or  as  long  as  he  will  choose  to 
retain  it;  and  I  have  no  fear  of  his  abusing  the  trust.  The 
executive  will  unquestionably  be  clothed  with  much  more 
strength  than  ours.  To  cause  this  every  thing  will  combine; 
the  ancient  prejudices  of  the  country  accustomed  to  a  despo 
tic  regime ;  the  singular  mixture  of  the  population,  demand 
ing  the  restraint  of  a  vigorous  administration;  the  extent 
of  the  territory  whose  limits  are  hardly  to  be  reached  by  a 
weak  arm ;  the  novelty  of  their  institutions,  and  the  conse 
quent  difficulty  of  executing  the  laws  or  of  protecting  either 
persons  or  property  in  a  country  affording  so  many  facilities 
for  escaping  from  punishment,  and  among  a  people  just  set 


104 

free,  just  feeling  themselves  so,  after  having  been  for  ages 
habituated  to  the  peremptory  exercise  of  absolute  power, 
without  having  been  schooled  and  prepared  for  the  immea 
surable  change.  At  the  same  time,  the  population  has  be 
come  so  inured  to  war,  so  much  familiarized  with  resistance, 
they  are  so  generally  armed,  and  their  character  appears  to 
be  imbued  with  so  much  excitability,  added  to  the  daily  in 
creasing  consciousness  of  the  social  importance  of  indivi 
duals,  that  they  would  be  very  apt  to  repell  any  thing  which 
savoured  of  wanton  and  despotic  abuse  of  authority.  The 
scenes  which  were  lately  acting  in  various  parts  of  the  coun 
try  tend  much  to  confirm  these  ideas,  since  we  see  that  the 
popular  pretence  for  them  was  the  mere  want  of  sufficient 
participation  in  the  government  by  particular  districts,  which 
in  the  present  state  of  the  nation  is  certainly  going  far  to 
discover  some  excuse  for  insurrection;  and  whatever  may  be 
the  secret  causes  of  the  discontent  of  the  chiefs  of  a  popular 
commotion,  they  are  always  obliged  to  throw  out  some  cap 
tivating  lure  to  the  mass  of  the  people  to  induce  their  fol 
lowing  them  into  the  field.  These  disturbances  I  do  not 
consider  as  threatening  a  dissolution  of  the  government,  much 
less  a  dismemberment  of  the  country.  Venezuela  and 
Guayaquil*,  with  one  or  two  less  considerable  provinces,  have 
neither  the  numerical  nor  the  moral  strength  that  would  be 
necessary  to  produce  these  results;  Cundinamarcaf  and  the 
provinces  which  adhere  to  her  are  much  more  than  a  match 
for  those  which  are  discontented,  if  the  question  would  re 
quire  force  to  decide  it;  besides,  the  army  is  considerable, 
has  seen  so  much  service  that  it  must  be  in  a  pretty  good 
state  of  discipline,  and  is  faithful  to  the  government,  except 
the  small  portion  of  it  which  was  under  the  immediate  orders 
of  Paez  :  added  to  which  is  the  mighty  name  of  Bolivar,  him 
self  a  host.  But  the  thing  is  manifestly  decided ;  the  discon 
tented  provinces  have  invoked  him  and  have  bestowed  upon 
him-  absolute  power  over  themselves,  while  he  is  the  actual 


*  Venezuela,  350,000,  Guyaquil,  90,000  inhabitants.    Noticia  sobre  la  Geo- 
grafia,  &c. 
t  371,000  inhabitants,  ibid. 


105 

as  well  as  the  titular  head  of  the  government  recognized  by 
the  constitution;  and  he  comes  forth  in  his  usual  unequivo 
cal  manner,  he  throws  himself,  his  vast  influence  and  popu 
larity,  and  what  is  the  conclusive  argument,  like  Brennus  in 
the  Capitol,  he  throws  his  powerful  sword  into  the  scale; 
but,  more  prudent  than  the  rash  Gaul,  his  explanation  is  not 
woe  to  the  conquered ;  he  adopts  the  safer  and  more  humane 
course  of  conciliation  and  of  compromise.  Some  palliatives 
will  be  applied  to  assuage  the  discontents,  some  of  the  in 
surgent  chiefs  will  be  bought  off  with  gold  or  with  honours, 
or  will  be  crushed  under  the  wheels  of  his  triumphal  car, 
which  is  drawn  by  the  people,  and  the  disturbances  will  be 
appeased*.  We  must  not  be  surprised  if  that  population, 
which  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  war  for  fifteen  years 
and  which  have  arms  in  their  hands,  should  adopt  a  mode  of 
expressing  their  sentiments  a  little  more  expeditious  and  a 
little  more  peremptory  than  we  are  accustomed  to;  if  we 
were  discontented,  we  should  hold  sundry  town  and  county 
meetings,  whereat  a  quantity  of  very  long  speeches  would 
be  made,  and  very  furious  resolutions  passed;  it  may  be  that 
we  should  abuse  one  another  a  trifle,  particularly  in  the  pa 
pers;  but  people  who  have  been  fighting  for  so  long  a  time, 
who  have  got  so  much  used  to  it  and  whose  weapons  are 
not  laid  aside,  would  naturally  manage  things  differently; 
they  would  perhaps  have  a  meeting  or  two  of  a  couple  of 
hundred  persons,  make  some  short  declarations  of  opinion, 
and  put  the  vote ;  when,  if  the  military  liked  the  complexion 
of  the  orators,  they  would  fire  a  few  times  up  and  down  the 
streets;  if  not,  they  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  fire  two  or 
three  volleys  upon  the  rhetoricians,  and  the  question  would 
be  decided.  This  argumentum  ad  hominem  or  ad  corpus 
may  strike  our  ideas  as  being  somewhat  dogmatical  and 
rather  at  variance  with  the  ordinary  rules  of  logic ;  but  it 


*  Since  this  was  written  the  question  has  been  decided,  peace  has  been  re 
stored,  and  Bolivar  has  tendered  his  resignation ;  whether  it  be  accepted  or  not, 
these  proceedings  prove  the  positions  assumed  in  the  text ;  if  it  be  not  accepted 
his  popularity  will  be  again  ratified  by  the  popular  will,  since  he  has  put  it  into  the 
people's  power  to  resume  the  trust  if  they  choose. 


106 

should  be  remembered  that  force  is  an  evil  which  generally 
cures  itself,  and  that  although  there  would  be  a  very  different 
state  of  things  if  the  regular  army  alone  decided  every  thing, 
yet  as  almost  all  the  people  have  military  habits,  the  same 
manner  of  acting  which  produces  some  violent  disturbances, 
also  guaranties  them  from  the  imposition  of  any  form  of 
government  which  has  not  the  sanction  of  the  will  of  the 
majority. 

The  state  of  affairs  at  present  is  however  by  no  means 
agreeable ;  there  are  discontents  at  home,  and  a  foreign  war 
is  still  pending,  at  the  moment  that  a  grand  design  is  in 
agitation  for  consolidating  American  independence.  Such 
a  crisis  demands  extraordinary  vigour,  extraordinary  mea 
sures.  What  will  these  measures  be  *?  Several  of  the  pro 
vinces  have  called  upon  their  liberator  to  assume  a  dicta 
torship;  they  have  called  upon  him  in  the  most  moving  and 
affectionate  terms;  salvam  fac  rempublicam  has  been  their 
united  prayer.  Old  Rome  gave  them  the  original  precedent, 
as  well  as  examples  of  moderation  to  the  dictator,  and  their 
common  safety  has  been  the  urgent  motive  for  their  appeal 
ing  to  him  who  made  them  free,  for  protection  against  anar 
chy,  and  against  intestine  war.  I  believe  he  will  accept 
this  eminent  trust,  if  he  finds  that  the  dissensions  are  not 
otherwise  to  be  appeased,  he  has  already  assumed  the  ex 
traordinary  powers  with  which  the  constitution  invests  the 
president  in  extreme  cases ;  and  again  I  say  I  have  no  fear 
that  he  will  abuse  it* :  his  fame  is  too  great  to  admit  the 
formation  of  such  a  fear.  He  is  too  greatly  ambitious;  he 
has  not  the  common  ambition  of  being  the  founder  of  a 
dynasty ;  he  aspires  to  the  rarer  glory  of  founding  a  republic, 
of  refusing  a  crown :  besides,  he  has  no  children  to  whom 
he  might  bequeath  it.  He  has  the  power  of  a  monarch,  and 
it  will  last  for  his  life,  without  any  of  the  carking  cares  and 
envy  that  wait  upon  an  acquired  royalty ;  his  is  an  empire  over 




*  These  anticipations  have  become  realities  in  Paez's  affair ;  and  I  can  only 
prove  by  rny  publisher  and  by  friends  who  read  the  manuscript,  that  it  was  writ- 
'en  before  the  disturbance  in  Venezuela  was  terminated. 


107 

the  affections  of  his  fellow  citizens ;  this  is  evident  in  every 
public  act,  and  the  attachment  of  the  people  will  revert  to 
his  family  connections ;  he  has  a  large  fortune  of  his  own, 
and  may  have  any  revenue  he  desires,  of  course  he  will  be 
surrounded  by  all  the  splendour  and  state  that  riches  can 
procure,  without  the  censure  and  privation  of  ease  that 
kings  have  often  to  encounter;  his  recommendation  and 
influence  do  and  will  place  his  friends  in  the  offices  he 
wishes  for  them;  what  more  can  a  monarch  require,  how 
few  of  them  can  command  as  much  9  A  man  like  him  can 
not  be  contented  with  the  throne  of  a  single  country,  the 
admiration  and  esteem  of  a  world  are  his  thrones.  Bolivar 
will  not  abuse  his  dictatorship;  he  has  been  appointed  to 
one  and  has  abandoned  it,  convening  a  national  representa 
tion,  and  giving  a  constitution  which  was  adopted  by  those 
whom  the  people  (who  have  paid  him  the  glorious  compli 
ment  of  assuming  his  name)  empowered  to  legislate  for 
them :  he  has  long  possessed  a  virtual  dictatorship  in  his  own 
country ;  for  his  advice  has  had  the  force  of  laws.  But  he 
will  do  what  he  believes  the  condition  of  his  country  re 
quires,  and  he  will  act  more  emphatically,  more  energeti 
cally,  than  has  ever  been  necessary  in  this  country.  Still,  he 
has  nothing  to  gain  by  abusing  his  authority,  for  he  possesses 
every  advantage  that  a  man  can  have;  and  he  has  every 
thing  to  lose  in  risking  these ;  above  all  his  gigantic  fame 
is  an  unimpeachable  security  for  his  good  conduct.  Would 
he  place  this  at  hazard*]  To  imagine  it  would  be  to  suppose 
him  mad. 

But  if  events,  which  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  forbids  us 
to  anticipate,  were  to  happen,  their  effects  could  not  outlast 
his  life,  for  there  is  no  one  to  take  his  place. 

Colombia  will  then  settle  into  a  republican  form  of 
government,  of  a  strong  character,  with  modifications  de 
manded  by  the  state  of  her  society,  by  the  extent  of  her 
territory,  and  by  the  singular  intermixture  of  her  popula 
tion  ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  the  stability  of 
her  institutions.  She  does  and  will  exercise  a  powerful  in 
fluence  over  the  neighbouring  states.  The  whole  of  Spanish 
America,  our  country,  and  even  Europe,  are  deeply  in- 


108 

terested  in  her  condition.  England  for  instance  has  too 
much  of  the  capital  of  her  subjects  invested  there  in  shape 
of  loans  and  otherwise,  has  lost  too  much  blood  in  the  revo 
lutionary  contest,  and  now,  in  expectation  of  a  much  larger 
trade,  drives  a  commerce  far  too  lucrative,  to  permit  her  to 
regard  with  an  indifferent  eye  the  future  destiny  of  Colom 
bia,  or  for  her  to  permit,  without  interposing  her  force,  a 
country  which  never  can  be  a  colony  of  hers,  to  have  the 
foundations  of  its  society  and  its  government  broken  up. 

How  wonderful  are  the  dispensations  of  providence  !  and 
how  often  do  we  see  good  arise  from  positive  evil,  from  vio 
lation  of  moral  obligations !  The  author  of  good  has  benefi 
cently  ordered  it  so  that  after  the  offender  has  been  scourged, 
the  tendency  of  his  evil  deeds  themselves  is  obviated,  their 
ill  effects  diverted;  sometimes  indeed  after  a  long  interval ; 
there  is  a  curative  power,  a  vis  medicatrix,  a  restorative  force, 
in  all  the  grand  operations  of  nature  and  of  morals.  Eng 
land  has  been  the  greatest  monopolist  of  the  world,  no  na 
tion  has  promoted  its  commerce,  manufactures,  and  agricul 
ture  with  such  interdictions,  none  has  been  so  tyrannical  over 
its  colonies*,  none  has  guarded  them  with  such  Argus 
jealousy,  down  to  the  time  when  she  has  engrossed  almost 
all  colonies,  and  has  created  such  a  prodigious  mass  of 
manufacturing  industry  as  to  enable  her  to  undersell  every 
other  nation  in  every  market,  and  to  render  nothing  so  desira 
ble  for  her  as  to  induce  other  nations  to  take  off  all  inter 
dictions  ;  and  therefore  she  now  offers  the  delusive  temptation 
of  removing  her  interdictions,  if  other  nations  will  do  the 
same — she  can  well  afford  to  do  so,  when  her  previous 
measures  have  placed  her  in  a  situation  to  supply  the  whole 
world,  and  to  break  up  all  commerce  and  all  manufactures 
by  underselling  them  in  their  own  parts  and  at  their  own 
gates.  While  she  pursued  the  most  rigorous  policy  with  re 
gard  to  her  own  colonies,  she  never  ceased  to  violate  the 
rights  and  the  laws  of  other  nations  in  respect  to  their  colo 
nies  ;  she  has  never  ceased  to  be  the  great  smuggler  of  the 



*  Let  any  one  who  doubts  this  remember  the  East  Indies. 


109 

world;  she  has  always  endeavoured  to  destroy  the  restric 
tive  system  of  others;  she  constantly  made  her  way  into 
Spanish  America,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  mother 
country,  in  defiance  of  the  guarda  costas  and  all  the  attirail 
of  Spanish  despotism ;  she  seized  at  every  favourable  opportu 
nity  ports,  and  islands,  as  Trinidad,  the  Falkland  isles,  Eng 
lish  Guiana,  and  innumerable  others,  convenient  depots  for 
her  merchandize,  and  convenient  stations  whence  to  run  her 
goods  into  the  interdicted  countries  (I  will  not  here  trace 
her  course  in  other  regions,  but  confine  my  observations  to 
America)  and  in  order  to  open  markets  for  herself:  she  has 
contributed  to  the  acquisition  of  the  independence  of  all 
colonies  which  she  could  not  appropriate  to  herself,  St  Do 
mingo,  and  Spanish  America  being  the  most  striking  exam 
ples  :  she  has  permitted  ships  of  war,  and  levies  of  troops, 
to  sail  from  her  ports  to  aid  the  Spanish  colonies  in  their 
contest  with  Spain ;  professing  neutrality,  she  made,  to  be 
sure,  some  demonstrations,  put  forth  some  proclamations, 
which  came  out  after  the  most  important  expeditions  could 
not  be  seriously  affected  by  them ;  but  it  is  a  farce  to  say 
that  so  watchful  a  government  would  be  ignorant  of  the  cir 
cumstances,  when  men  were  levied  by  legions,  and  when 
frigates  were  building  in  her  ports  ;  her  merchants  supplied 
the  greater  part  of  the  arms  to  the  colonies,  and  millions  were 
publicly  raised  on  her  exchange  for  loans  to  them.  Thus 
did  the  most  signal  selfishness  on  her  side  largely  contribute 
to  the  emancipation  of  a  continent,  and  to  the  independence 
of  a  numerous  and  gallant  race*.  Let  no  man  say  that  it 


*  De  Pradt,  in  his  work  Des  Colonies,  &c.  has  expressed  these  ideas  better  than 
I  do  :— 

" Les  metropoles  les  plus  jalouses  de  1'exclusif  chez  elles,  sont  les  plus 

infatigables  a  le  violer  chez  les  autres.  Ainsi  1'Angleterre,  tres  exclusive  dans 
ses  colonies  propres,  et  sans  cesse  occupee  a  violer  1'exclusif  chez  les  autres,  en 
faisant  penetrer  ses  marchandises  dans  leurs  colonies.  Depuis  qu'il  y  a  des  colo 
nies  espagnoles,  elle  n'a  pas  cesse  de  sapper  leur  regime  exclusif,  elle  fit  la  guerre 
de  1740  a  Pappui  de  ses  contrebandiers.  Dans  les  vingt-cinq  dernieres  annees, 
elle  a  fait  encore  plus,  car  partout  elle  a  affranchi  et  porte  a  s'afftanchir,  pourvu 
que  1'exclusif  disparut  a  son  egard :  fait  elle  autre  chose,  depuis  dix  annees  sur  la 
riviere  de  la  Plata,  et  sur  toute  la  cote  de  I'Amerique  meridionale  ?" — De  Pradt 
des  Colonies,  Vol.  I.  p.  247. 
P 


110 

was  English  philanthropy,  the  sturdy  spirit  of  English  free* 
dom,  which  could  not  bear  the  spectacle  of  slavery — stuff! 
let  her  emancipate  Ireland*,  let  her  set  her  West  Indian 
slaves  at  large,  let  her  throw  open  the  ports  of  her  islands, 
let  her  establish  liberal  institutions  in  Hindostan,  and  then 
we  might  put  some  faith  in  this  "  euphemism."  The  result, 
however,  of  her  policy,  directed  solely  to  acquiring  fresh  and 
larger  markets  for  trade  and  for  employment  of  her  capital, 
has  been  to  involve  her  to  such  a  degree  in  the  questions  of 
independence  and  of  the  stability  of  the  South  American 
governments  and  of  none  more  than  that  of  Colombia  that 
she  can  not  now  afford  to  lose  the  investments  she  has 
made — I  mean  the  investments  of  her  subjects ;  and  she 
therefore  must,  she  is  obliged  to,  co-operate  in  the  main 
tenance  of  both ;  she  will  do  so  by  negociation  and  influence, 
if  she  can;  if  not,  she  will  interpose  force.  It  is  certainly 
a  great  and  important  point  gained  (whether  in  conse 
quence  of  accident  or  necessity,  or  of  a  profound  and  ad 
mirable  design  the  result  of  the  most  enlightened  policyf ) 
that  so  powerful  a  nation  should  be  implicated,  interested, 
inextricably  bound,  for  her  own  sake,  to  support  the  order  of 
things  which  is  imperiously  demanded  by  the  welfare  of 
Spanish  America,  and  especially  of  Colombia,  one  of  the 
most  important  members  of  the  new  constellation  of  empires. 
It  would  be  to  protract  too  much  a  memoir,  already  much 
longer  than  I  intended  it  to  be  when  I  began  to  write,  if  I 
were  to  enter  at  large  into  the  financial  and  statistical 
details  of  the  countries  which  are  treated  of;  most  of  the 
documents  are  accessible  to  the  readers,  although  they  are 
not  as  explicit  as  could  be  desired  :  besides,  these  details 
are  not  necessary  to  my  design,  which  is  only  to  shew  the 
general  relations,  the  numerical  strength,  and  the  proba 
bility  of  the  permanency  of  the  governments.  I  therefore 


*  See  Chateaubriand's  Address,  translated  in  the  National  Gazette,  February 
1827. 

t  Mr  Canning  says,  "  I  called  America  into  existence."  Do  the  records  of  de 
clamation  afford  a  parallel  to  such  arrogance  ?  If  any  foreigner  could  say  so  it 
would  be  Mr  Clay.  But  her  own  spirit  and  her  own  good  sword  gave  indepen 
dent  existence  to  South  America. 


Ill 

pass  to  the  next  great  division  of  the  continent,  without 
touching  upon  the  Guianas,  of  too  little  consequence  in  the 
grand  scale  to  delay  us,  and  destined  when  they  acquire 
sufficient  population,  if  that  ever  happens,  or  when  circum 
stances  demand  it,  to  be  absorbed  by  one  or  other  of  their 
more  powerful  neighbours. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


B 


RAZIL,  with  an  area  of  256,990  square  marine  leagues, 
82,690  more  than  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  contains 
4,000,000  inhabitants*  ;  of  which,  whites  920,000 ;  Indians 
260,000  ;  negro  slaves  1,728,000  ;  free  blacks  159,000,  slaves 
of  mixed  blood  202,000,  freemen  of  mixed  blood  426,000f ; 
the  aggregate  of  these  numbers,  3,695,000,  differs  from  the 
first  total  on  account  of  an  estimate  which  the  baron  makes 
at  the  distance  of  four  or  five  years  from  the  dates  of  the 
enumeration  effected  between  September  1816  and  1818; 
the  present  numbers  must  considerably  exceed  four  millions, 
without  computing  the  Banda  Oriental,  but  I  take  this  sum 
as  being  the  best  authenticated ;  the  proportions  of  the  se 
veral  races  probably  maintain  nearly  the  same  ratio  to  one 
another.  Taking  Brazil  at  257,000  square  leagues,  and 
the  population  at  four  millions,  there  are  fifteen  souls  to  the 
square  league J,  which  however  are  very  unequally  appor 
tioned  on  the  surface  of  the  country. 

Whatever  has  been  said  before  of  Mexico  and  Colombia 
relative  to  the  aristocratic  or  despotic  propensities  induced 


*  Humboldt,ut  ante,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  127. 
t  Ibid.  Part  I.  p.  141.  and  Part  II.  p.  837. 
t  Ibid.  Part  I.  pp.  185.337. 


112 

by  the  colonial  institutions,  the  peculiarity  of  the  conquest, 
and  above  all  by  the  diversity  of  the  castes  among  the  popu 
lation,  applies  with  equal  force  to  Brazil.     But  the  immense 
number  of  slaves,  and  the  continuation  of  slavery  in  Brazil, 
make  those  observations  apply  to  this  country  with  a  vastly 
increased  force.     The  inmigration  of  the  king  of  Portugal, 
the  court,  and  a  strong  body  of  troops,  added  to  the  former 
prejudices  and  predilections  of  the  inhabitants  of  Brazil,  seal 
ed  the  fate,  and  decided  the  form,  of  its  government.     Every 
thing  said  to  shew  the  probability  of  a  strong  government 
being  established  in  Mexico  and  Colombia,  applies  with  ten 
fold  vigour  to  Brazil,  from  the  same  causes ;  the  number  of  the 
slaves  superadds  to  the  probability ;  they  cannot  be  kept 
down,  outnumbering  the  whites,  as  they  do  so  largely,  un 
less  there  be  always  a  strong  military  force  on  foot ;  which, 
while  it  protects  the  whites,  and  particularly  the  masters, 
from  insurrection  of  their  slaves,  will  be  ready  organized  for 
action  against  any  attempt  to  change  the  existing  order  of 
things  among  the  rest  of  the  population.    There  can  therefore 
be  no  revolutionary  movement  in  Brazil  like  that  in  the  Spa 
nish  colonies,  and  there  has  been  none.     No  two  things  could 
be  more  dissimilar  than  the  absolute  rejection  of  the  Spanish 
dominion,  metropolis,  monarch,  dynasty,  allegiance — in  short 
the  total  abruption  of  every  connection  with  the  antecedent 
regime,  in  the  Hispano-American  colonies,  and  the  separa- 
ration  of  Brazil  from  Portugal.     In  the  one  instance  every 
bond  was  burst  asunder,  in  the  other  there  was  a  mere  nom 
inal  division  of  the  relation  between  the  mother  country  and 
the  colony,  without  in  the  least  affecting  the  allegiance  to  the 
king,  and  without  the  least  disparagement  to  his  title;  be 
cause  the  whole  operation  emanated  from  the  monarch  and 
was  conducted  by  himself.     The  consequence  is  that  he 
finds  himself  at  the  head  of  an  empire  more  powerful,  now 
it  is  divided,  than  both  kingdoms  were  while  united,  and  in 
finitely  more  so  than  the  mother  country.     We  see  therefore 
that  the  present  monarch  has  wisely  branched  his  family  into 
two  dynasties,  retaining  for  himself  the  best  country,  and 
allotting  to  his  daughter  and  to  his  brother,  whose  aspirations 
for  a  crown  had  previously  compromitted  the  tranquillity  of 


113 

both  countries,  that  kingdom  which  gave  birth  to  the  em 
pire  to  which  he  has  limited  his  desires.  The  whole  ap 
paratus  of  monarchy  was  actually  existing  in  Brazil,  and 
when  the  late  king  inmigrated  he  brought  with  him  a  vast 
accession  of  strength  and  materials  for  it.  These  continued 
under  the  regency,  and  Don  Pedro  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
assume  a  title  when  the  bases  of  the  empire  were  already 
laid,  to  assume  the  name  when  the  essence  and  spirit  already 
existed,  to  place  the  throne  upon  the  dais  already  raised  to 
support  it.  I  will  not  recapitulate  the  observations  formerly 
made,  but  will  only  say  that  every  cause  for  a  monarchical 
government  in  Mexico  and  Colombia,  which  have  since  been 
modified  there,  exists  in  Brazil,  that  there  are  stronger  causes, 
and  many  others  have  been  added  in  Brazil,  none  taken 
away ;  no  modification,  no  causes  to  operate  a  change,  have 
been  created;  and  no  revulsion  has  taken  place  to  alter  the 
essential  forms  of  the  government,  nor  to  change  the  spirit 
and  inclinations  of  the  people.  The  expansion  of  intellect 
which  characterizes  the  age,  and  the  good  counsels,  as  well  as 
the  enlarged  views,  by  which  the  emperor  appears  to  be  guid 
ed,  have  impelled  him,  and  will  continue  to  do  so,  to  establish 
as  much  liberality  in  his  forms  of  government,  and  as  many 
liberal  institutions  in  his  empire,  as  can  be  expected  from  a 
monarch  or  from  the  extraordinary  combination  of  circum 
stances  which  characterize  the  population  and  the  country. 
Brazil  will  settle  down,  and  in  fact  has  already  done  so,  into 
a  constitutional  monarchy,  with  a  representative  body,  and 
a  chamber  of  nobility;  the  whole  forming  however  a  very 
strong  government.  I  see  no  probability  for  an  age  to  come 
of  any  thing  like  a  republic  there :  some  commotions,  re 
bellions,  or  insurrections  may  take  place,  but  they  will  sub 
side  into  the  original  forms ;  the  foundations  of  the  existing 
state  of  things  are  too  deeply  laid  to  be  overthrown.  Brazil 
however  is  entirely  and  absolutely  American  (with  this  ex 
ception)  in  all  her  views,  all  her  interests,  all  her  policy;  they 
are  cemented,  identified,  with  the  rest  of  the  continent ;  and 
her  destruction  would  be  the  inevitable  consequence  of  an 
attempt  to  divorce  herself  from  the  American  system.  I 
consider  her  government  as  among  the  most  firmly  establish- 


114 

ed  on  the  continent.  This  militates  I  know  against  the 
wishes  of  many  of  my  fellow  citizens,  but  I  can  not  help  it, 
it  is  my  candid  opinion ;  nor  do  I  see  how  a  philanthropist, 
with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  character  of  her 
population,  can  desire  that  every  link  of  society  should  be 
disconnected,  in  the  hope,  the  mere  hope,  the  remote  chance, 
of  a  form  of  government  more  congenial  to  our  feelings  be 
ing  created  out  of  the  chaos  which  must  arise  from  an  at 
tempt  to  alter  institutions  to  which  the  whole  nation  is 
familiarized  and  attached.  If  Brazil  should  ever  undertake 
to  propagate  her  prejudices  among  the  other  nations  of  the 
continent,  she  would  deserve  and  would  receive  exemplary 
chastisement;  but  she  will  not  be  so  mad,  she  must  know 
the  danger  she  would  incur,  and  must  anticipate  the  fearful 
retaliation  to  which  she  is  open  :  on  the  other  hand  it  would 
be  a  bad  specimen  of  the  adherence  of  republicans  to  their 
principles,  especially  to  the  one  which  they  maintain  so 
strongly  that  every  nation  has  a  perfect  right  to  determine 
upon  its  own  form  of  government,  if  they  were  to  infringe 
upon  the  right  in  this  instance. 

Brazil  is  a  strong  constitutional  aristocratic  representative 
monarchy,  but  in  her  other  characteristics  is  American  all 
over ;  and  the  permanency  of  her  government  can  not  be 
doubted. 

To  suppose  that  she  is  not  to  have  disputes  with  her 
neighbours,  is  to  fancy  the  return  of  the  golden  age;  but 
they  will  find  great  difficulty  in  making  effective  war  upon 
one  another  because  of  the  distances  which  are  enormous, 
and  of  the  risk  as  well  as  the  expense  of  supporting  armies 
in  countries  so  thinly  settled,  notwithstanding  the  supplies 
which  may  be  drawn  from  the  abundance  of  the  herds,  and 
the  advantage  of  being  able  to  find  green  provender  almost 
universally,  unless  for  a  short  interval  during  the  year.  Eu 
rope,  with  its  area  304,700  square  leagues  and  195  millions 
of  inhabitants  equal  to  639  to  the  league,  would  be  enabled 
to  maintain  perpetual  war  if  the  same  circumstances  existed 
within  her  boundaries ;  but  in  Brazil  and  the  neighbouring 
countries  the  facilities  afforded  for  indulging  warlike  inclina 
tions  are  obviated  by  the  expanses  over  which  armies  would 


115 

have  to  move,  and  the  expense  incident  to  driving  after  the 
armies  live  provisions  which  they  cannot  expect  to  find  every 
where,  as  in  Europe,  and  of  transporting  the  munitions  of  war ; 
as  to  war  by  means  of  fleets,  countries  cannot  be  subdued  by 
it  although  they  may  be  distressed  and  their  colonies  subdued. 
Until  therefore  the  lapse  of  ages  shall  replenish  those  regions 
with  inhabitants,  a  thing  by  the  by  not  to  be  expected  in 
the  vast  pampas,  and  until  the  formation  of  the  splendid 
compact,  which  is  destined  to  restrain  the  wonderful  pro 
pensity  nations  have  to  cut  one  another's  throats,  there  may 
be  dissensions,  and  even  hostilities,  but  they  will  not  be  of 
such  moment  as  to  disturb  seriously  the  general  tranquillity, 
in  spite  of  the  jealousy  that  must  prevail  between  govern 
ments  of  such  different  forms.  The  contest  between  Brazil 
and  Buenos  Ayres  is  of  this  stamp  :  they  are  disputing  about 
the  possession  of  a  country  which  certainly  does  not  belong 
to  the  latter,  not  only  because  it  does  not  choose  to  belong 
to  it,  but  also  because  Portugal  was  the  first  occupant,  if 
there  be  any  faith  in  history,  and  was  disturbed  in  the  oc 
cupation  by  subsequent  force  and  intrigue  used  by  Spain  or 
by  her  colonists;  this  priority  of  possession  has  heretofore 
been  the  test  of  titles  to  territories  in  America.  The  Banda 
Oriental,  about  which  they  are  fighting,  never  has  been  in 
possession  of  Buenos  Ayres;  unless  we  call  the  pendency  of 
a  negociation  a  possession,  which  in  fact  was  broken  off  by 
the  Banda  Oriental ;  and  this  induced  a  war  between  it  and 
Buenos  Ayres.  The  possession  of  the  sea  port  of  Monte  Video 
by  Brazil  is  very  little  to  the  purpose,  when  Artigas  at  the 
head  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  was,  and  the  latter 
are  yet,  in  open  hostilities  with  both  Buenos  Ayres  and  Bra 
zil.  The  country  will  itself  decide  the  question,  by  declar 
ing  to  which  it  thinks  fit  to  adhere ;  and,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  power  to  which  it  does  adhere,  it  is  well  able  to  make 
its  decision  valid.  They  are  therefore  disputing  about  a 
country  which  in  point  of  fact,  whatever  may  be  the  abstract 
right,  belongs  to  neither  of  them.  And  really  it  is  of  no 
great  consequence  to  either,  as  they  both  have  already  more 
territory  than  they  can  manage,  and  much  more  than  their 
population  can  cover:  to  the  Banda  Oriental  however  it  is  a 


116 

question  of  consequence,  because  the  city  of  Buenos  Ayres 
seems  to  persevere  in  the  exploded  doctrines  of  Spanish  mo 
nopoly,  and  to  be  determined  that  hers  shall  be  the  only 
commercial  port  on  the  river  of  the  Amazons ;  a  most  unjust 
and  absurd  pretension,  and  one  which  deserves  to  be  punished 
by  the  loss  of  the  left  bank  of  the  river  with  its  great  estuary. 


CHAPTER  xiv. 


TH1 


[E  cidevant  viceroyalty  of  Buenos  Ayres,  or  the  Pro- 
vincias  Del  Rio  de  la  Plata,  contained  an  area  of  126,770 
square  marine  leagues,  with  a  population  of  2,300,000  souls* ; 
equivalent  to  18  souls  to  the  leaguef.  Of  which  Paraguay  { 
and  the  Missions  have  140,000  ;  and  the  Banda  Oriental  con 
tained  45,000  on  86,000  square  miles  ;  Entre  Rios  25,000  on 
104,500  square  miles§  ;  according  to  the  report  of  Theodo- 
ric  Bland,  Esq.  to  our  government,  dated  the  2d  of  November 
1818.  The  proportion  of  the  different  races  is||,  whites 
320,000  ;  Indians  1,200,000  ;  negroes  about  60,000  ;  and  the 
mixed  races  742,000.  Although  the  amount  of  population 
taken  off  by  Paraguay  is  not  exactly  known,  the  numbers  are 
sufficiently  accurate  for  our  purpose. 

But  the  country  called  by  Spain  Provincias  del  Rio  de  la 
Plata,  recently  under  the  viceroyalty  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
embraced  in  the  above  calculations  of  Humboldt,  has  been 


*  Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  127,  relating  to  1823 ;  though  in  page  364  he 
calls  ft  2,371,000  or  two  and  a  half  millions. 
t  Ibid.  p.  377. 

j  Ibid.  p.  171,  7424  square  leagues. 
§  Ibid.  p.  171,  6848  square  leagues. 
||  Ibid.  Part  II.  pp.  835,  836. 


117 

divided.  Upper  Peru  has  become  the  republic  of  Bolivar, 
covering  37,020  square  leagues*  :  Paraguay  is  independent ; 
and  the  Entre  Rios  and  Banda  Oriental  have  never  recog 
nized  the  supremacy  of  Buenos  Ayres;  the  latter  is  the  sub 
ject  of  the  war  with  Brazil.  Humboldt  gives  the  area  of  the 
United  Provinces  of  Buenos  Ayres  at  91,528  square  leaguesf. 
The  Gaceta  de  Colombia  of  the  llth  of  December  1825 
enumerates  the  provinces,  viz.  Buenos  Ayres,  Cordova,  Men- 
doza,  San  Juan,  San  Luis,  Rioja,  Catamarca,  Santiago  del 
Estero,  Tuman,  Salta,  Santafe,  Entre  Rides,  Corrientes ; 
giving  the  population  as  569,999  souls  ;  and  stating  this 
as  an  extract  from  an  order  of  the  government,  under  autho 
rity  of  the  general  congress,  circulated  on  the  17th  of  June 
1825  to  all  the  provinces.  This  I  assume  therefore  as  the 
most  correct  statement  of  the  population  of  the  United  Pro 
vinces. 

The  same  mixture  of  population,  which  so  remarkably 
characterizes  the  rest  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  America, 
prevails  here ;  and  the  observations  upon  the  subject,  and 
upon  its  probable  effect,  need  not  be  repeated.  I  approach 
with  much  apprehension  the  next  head  which  I  have  made 
in  treating  of  the  other  countries ;  but  I  have  vowed  to  speak 
the  whole  truth,  as  it  appears  to  my  feeble  conceptions. 

The  country  known  in  the  latter  years  of  the  Spanish 
domination  by  the  general  appellation  of  the  viceroyalty 
of  Buenos  Ayres,  comprehending  a  great  number  of  in- 
tendencias  and  governments,  or  provinces,  has  been  the  seat 
of  more  intestine  disturbances  and  of  more  opposition  to 
the  government,  since  the  declaration  of  independence,  than 
any  of  the  other  cidevant  colonies :  it  has  scarcely  been 
at  rest  for  any  six  consecutive  months  :  revolution  after 
revolution  has  changed  the  rulers  and  even  the  outline  of 
the  government  in  the  city  and  its  vicinity :  many  of  the 
provinces  have  disputed  the  supremacy  of  the  metropolis  : 
and  many  of  them  have  formed  themselves  into  independent 
governments :  the  revolutions,  as  well  as  those  disputes,  hav- 


*  Humboldt,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  171. 
t  Ibid. p.  151. 


118 

ing  been  maintained  by  armed  force,  and  in  many  instances 
by  sanguinary  conflicts.  These  symptoms  render  the  stabi 
lity  of  the  government  of  the  provinces  extremely  problema 
tical.  Buenos  Ay  res  was  the  scene  of  more  than  one  inva 
sion  by  foreign  powers,  and  had  more  intercourse  with,  them 
than  the  rest  of  the  colonies ;  the  vestiges  must  have  been 
left  behind  of  European  principles:  we  see  them  in  a 
rough  and  undigested  form  it  is  true,  mingled  with  the  an 
cient  prejudices,  and  with  the  consequences  of  the  diversity 
of  races  which  compose  the  population.  The  white  popula 
tion  seems  to  be  more  democratic  than  that  of  the  other  late 
colonies  :  but  how  democratic  9  the  principle  does  not  seem 
to  have  extended  itself  in  fact,  however  it  may  be  granted  by 
the  letter  of  the  laws,  to  the  other  castes,  which  appear  to 
have  been  made  use  of  only  to  swell  the  force,  to  fill  the  ranks 
of  the  troops  under  command,  and  direction,  and,  what  is  of 
much  more  importance,  under  the  influence  of  the  whites, 
who  disputed  with  one  another  the  supremacy.  Slavery  has 
been  abolished  during  these  turmoils,  but  the  slaves  seem 
only  to  have  been  transferred  from  their  agriculture  to  the 
armies.  They  have  not  been  invested  with  the  real  and  es 
sential  rights  of  citizens,  nor  can  they  be,  in  any  part  of 
America,  as  long  as  the  distinction  and  consequent  preju 
dice  of  colour  continues.  They  have  no  electoral  nor  pacific 
influence  in  the  country  ;  they  have  been  taken  from  their 
master's  ploughs,  to  fight  their  master's  battles,  lured  on  by 
the  donation  of  red  facings  to  their  coats,  and  by  some 
merely  captivating  or  existing  temptations ;  but  they  have 
not  in  fact  been  made  partakers  of  the  advantages  or  au 
thority,  to  acquire  which  for  those  masters  they  were  led 
into  action  ;  they  have  not  ceased  to  be  slaves,  because  they 
are  as  much  slaves  in  the  army  as  they  were  in  the  fields. 

These  observations  generally  apply  to  the  Indian  and 
mixed  races :  if  they  were  not  slaves  they  were  of  no  civil 
importance  in  society  under  the  Spanish  regime ;  although 
the  Indians  were  sometimes  rendered  formidable  by  insur 
rections,  or  by  the  warfare  of  those  who  continued  to  be 
termed  bravos.  those  who  were  not  completely  reduced  to 
submission.  They,  and  the  mixed  colour,  appear  to  con- 


119  xv 

tinue  to  hold  pretty  much  the  same  station  in  political  rela 
tions  that  they  did  before  the  revolution.  Their  physical 
and  numerical  forces  have  been  made  use  of,  in  the  same 
manner  that  the  blacks  have  been  used  ;  and  in  like  manner 
they  do  not  appear  to  have  any  other  political,  and  still  less 
moral,  influence  in  the  country. 

The  report  of  Mr  Bland  exhibits  a  melancholy  state  of 
public  feeling  in  1818,  and  a  discordancy  among  the  pro 
vinces  truly  lamentable.  Since  the  date  of  that  report,  the 
government  and  the  country  have  gradually  improved  in 
consolidation,  tranquillity,  and  permanency  ;  but  not  suffi 
ciently  to  bring  my  mind  to  a  conviction  of  the  permanency  of 
their  institutions  yet,  without  the  influence  of  some  powerful 
interference  ;  such  as  would  be  exercised  by  the  pacific  im 
pulse  which  will  be  given  by  the  grand  American  confede 
ration.  If  this  consummation,  devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  does 
not  take  place,  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  anarchical 
materials  (for  from  what  has  passed  it  must  be  evident  that 
they  cannot  be  considered  truly  democratic)  which  exist  in 
the  temperament  of  the  predominant  caste,  the  whites,  and 
in  the  distracting  contrarieties  of  the  three  other  inferior 
colours,  should  terminate  in  the  adoption  of  a  monarchical 
form  of  government,  savouring  more  of  despotism  than  the 
institutions  of  any  other  state  of  the  American  continent. 
So  near  are  the  confines  of  anarchy  to  those  of  despotism, 
and  so  prone  are  mankind  to  take  refuge  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  strongest  form  of  government  from  the  evils  of 
that  state  of  affairs  in  which  neither  persons  nor  property 
are  safe.  Should  this  be  the  case,  there  will  probably  be 
still  preserved  something  like  a  legislative  body,  but  it  will 
be  characterized  with  so  many  qualifications  that  it  will  be 
nothing  more  than  an  organ  of  the  executive  will :  there 
will  not  be  a  regularly  constituted  and  efficient  aristocracy*, 


*  Perhaps  the  term  nobility  would  be  more  correct ;  for  the  sultan's  favour 
creates  a  kind  of  aristocracy  among  his  slaves ;  offices  do  the  same  every  where ; 
and  failing  these  nature  herself  has  made  some  men  stronger  or  wiser  than  others. 
What  I  mean  by  a  regularly  constituted  aristocracy  is  one  on  the  model  of  that  of 
modern  Europe,  and  of  Rome  and  Greece,  not  to  speak  of  the  original  inhabitants 
•f  the  other  countries. 


120 

for  such  a  class  does  not  belong  to  despotism ;  and  if  there 
must  be  a  monarchy  it  is  probably  the  most  effectual  defence 
of  the  rights  of  the  whole  community  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  sovereign  authority.  But  I  believe  that 
Buenos  Ayres  is  reserved  for  a  better  fate,  if  the  American 
system  goes  into  operation. 

The  revolution  in  Buenos  Ayres  may  fairly  be  said  to  have 
had  its  first  sparks  struck  at  the  date  of  Sir  Home  Popham's 
invasion;  so  that  the  flames  of  independence,  which  have 
since,  like  a  glorious  bale  fire,  blazed  on  the  mountain  tops 
and  illuminated  every  valley  in  America,  were  kindled  there 
quite  as  early  as  in  any  of  the  Spanish  colonies.  The  sepa 
ration  of  this  country  from  Europe  is  as  decided  and  irre 
trievable  as  that  of  any  of  the  others,  whatever  phase  the 
government  may  assume.  If  a  monarchy  were  established,  a 
king  might  be  borrowed  from  abroad,  but  he  would  necessarily 
be  American  in  his  politics,  as  would  be  any  other  form  of 
government.  The  question  of  complete  disseverance  from 
Europe  is  decided  for  ever  all  over  this  continent.  Buenos 
Ayres  therefore  will  unquestionably  be  thoroughly  identified 
with  American  interests  and  with  the  American  system. 

bnis 


CHAPTER  XV. 


* 


P 


ARAGUAY  is  nearly  a  terra  incognita ;  we  know  al 
most  nothing  about  it.  The  singular  isolation  in  which  it 
has  been  the  policy  of  its  government,  or  of  its  ruler,  to  keep 
the  country,  has  prevented  any  certain  and  detailed  infor 
mation-  of  its  state  of  society,  or  of  its  concerns,  from  reach 
ing  the  rest  of  the  world.  All  that  can  be  said  is,  that,  if 
Buenos  Ayres  should  pass  into  the  hands  of  a  vigorous  go 
vernment,  Paraguay  will  probably  fall  into  its  possession. 


121 

But  Paraguay  cannot  for  a  long  time  be  amalgamated  with 
Buenos  Ayres ;  whatever  may  be  the  form  of  government 
established,  if  that  country  be  comprehended,  it  must  form 
a  separately  governed  province  or  state,  with  nothing  more 
than  an  allegiance  to  the  common  head  :  the  diversity  of 
sentiment  and  the  opposition  of  the  institutions  of  Paraguay 
to  those  of  the  rest  of  the  ancient  viceroyalty,  indicate  this  in 
a  manner  not  to  be  misunderstood.  The  existence  of  a  very 
small  independent  nation  is  out  of  the  question  at  this  time  of 
day,  especially  of  one  surrounded  by  the  dominions  of  large 
powers.  This  is  indicated  by  the  fate  of  the  minor  sovereign 
ties  of  Italy  and  of  Germany ;  none  of  which  have  been  for 
several  ages  in  fact  entirely  independent,  except  for  very 
short  periods  of  time,  and  when  contests  among  the  greater 
powers  occupied  so  much  of  their  attention  as  to  leave  no 
leisure  to  attend  to  inferior  relations.  Paraguay  cannot 
therefore  maintain  its  independence  with  its  present  popula 
tion  ;  it  will  be  absorbed  by  one  of  its  greater  neighbours, 
no  doubt  by  Buenos  Ayres,  before  it  acquires  population 
adequate  to  make  good  its  independence ;  and  by  the  time 
that  it  contains  numbers  sufficient  to  do  so,  the  inhabitants 
will  be  habituated  and  reconciled  to  a  different  state  of  af 
fairs.  In  addition  to  the  argument  drawn  from  precedents 
and  from  the  antipathy  of  the  world  to  the  existence  of  small, 
detached,  independent,  nations,  it  is  very  plain  that  such  a 
one  would  not  be  endured  with  institutions  so  entirely  at  va 
riance  with  the  policy  and  the  interest  of  the  conterminous 
countries.  As  long  however  as  this  province  continues  in 
its  present  state,  it  must  be  entirely  American ;  every  inte 
rest  and  every  policy  tend  to  connect  it  with  the  American 
system  :  it  is  of  course  as  definitively  alienated  from  Europe 
as  any  of  the  other  South  Americaivnations.  The  area  of 
Paraguay,  as  has  been  before  said,  is  according  to  Humboldt 
7424  leagues,  with  140,000  inhabitants. 


122 

• 

• 

1 

• 

•  i :'  • 

'    I.        ;*»«  •          •    ••>'•  K    Ol 

, :  J 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

:   •!*•*•    •     o  .y>- 

^ivih       ______ 

•  ij  .  •  .      •  »«• 

HE  next  country  of  which  I  shall  treat  is  Chili.  To 
this  nation  also  applies  much  of  what  has  been  previously 
said  of  the  others;  and  repetition  will  be  avoided  as  much  as 
possible.  Chili  upon  an  area  of  14,240  square  leagues  had 
a  population  in  1823  of  1,100,000  souls*,  being  nearly  se 
venty-seven  and  a  half  to  each  square  league,  which  is 
considerably  more  than  equal  to  half  the  average  population 
of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Mississippi,  which  compre 
hends  our  densest  population. 

I  am  not  able  to  give  as  exactly  as  heretofore  the  estimate 
of  the  numbers  of  the  different  races;  because  Humboldt 
has  not  discriminated  between  Chili  and  Peru,  but  has  given 
both  together ;  nor  have  I  been  able  to  rectify  the  omission 
from  any  of  the  documents  I  have.  Baron  Humboldt  gives 
for  Peru  and  Chili,  Indians  1,030,000,  Whites  465,000,  the 
mixed  races  853,000,  and  for  all  the  Spanish  continental 
America  387,000  slaves.  It  is  true  that  Mr  Bland  in  his 
report  says  that  the  population  of  Chili  is  more  homogeneous, 
has  less  of  the  African  blackening,  and  a  smaller  proportion 
of  slaves  than  any  other  portion  of  Spanish  America;  that 
there  were  at  the  time  of  his  mission  50,000  descendants  of 
the  Indians  who  were  slaves ;  that  there  had  been  great  mix- 


*  Humboldt,  as  before,  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  127.;  it  is  stated  however  to  be 
1,200,000  in  Mr  Eland's  Report  made  in  1813. 


123 

ture  ;  that  the  huasos  or  peasantry  of  the  country  are  all  of 
this  class ;  and  that  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  popula 
tion  of  Peru  are  whites,  the  other  two-thirds  being  negroes 
and  mulattoes,  bond  and  free*.  These  statements  agree 
with  communications  to  the  writer  from  a  distinguished  gen 
tleman,  a  native  of  Chili ;  but  they  are  not  precise  enough 
to  authorize  any  numerical  discrimination  here.  I  think, 
however,  that  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  Mr  Eland's  ac 
count  of  the  total  number  of  the  inhabitants  was  nearly  cor 
rect,  and  believe  that  they  are  at  present,  at  the  distance  of 
eight  years  from  the  time  when  he  wrote,  at  least  1,300,000 
or  perhaps  1,400,000.  Among  these  there  are  very  few  ne 
groes  or  offspring  of  a  mixture  with  them  :  but,  from  all  the 
information  I  have  been  able  to  collect,  I  infer  that  the 
Indians  and  the  mixed  race  of  their  blood  amount  to  at 
least  two-thirds  of  the  whole  population;  leaving  say  from 
450,000  to  500,000  of  the  pure  white  race,  although  the  num 
ber  of  this  class  is  rated  much  higher  by  some  of  the  South 
Americans.  If  the  last  should  be  greatly  more  numerous 
than  my  estimate,  should  they  even  compose  half  the  popula 
tion,  the  foundation  for  the  induction  which  has  been  drawn 
in  relation  to  the  other  states  applies  also  here,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree  according  to  the  proportion  of  the  several 
races,  which  I  have  no  materials  for  determining  precisely. 
This  induction  is  that  there  cannot  exist  a  democratic  equa 
lity  in  the  country  as  long  as  the  prejudice  shall  continue, 
(which  has  endured  until  it  appears  to  be  a  natural  sentiment) 
of  pre-eminence  of  the  whites  over  all  the  other  colours. 
Laws  go  for  a  great  deal ;  persistence  in  an  uniform  system 
of  legislation  will  gradually  affect  the  moral  principle,  the 
habits  of  thinking,  of  a  people;  but  the  grand  and  funda 
mental  law,  the  constitution,  of  a  nation  at  any  given  time 
is  the  prejudice,  or  the  opinion,  of  the  population  at  that 
particular  period.  The  wisest  and  best  laws  may  be  enact 
ed,  but  if  they  are  not  supported  by  the  sentiments  and  as 
sent  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  country,  they  cannot 
be  executed.  This  assent  may  be  given  from  different  mo- 


*  Mr  Eland's  Report,  pages  108  and  112  of  the  copy  published  for  congress. 


124 

lives :  part  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  most  active  part,  is  en 
gaged  in  supporting  the  government  in  various  ways,  in  the 
thousand  civil  posts  from  the  minister  of  state  down  to  the 
catchpole  and  the  taxgatherer,  or  among  the  military  from 
the  commander  in  chief  down  to  the  sutler  and  batman,  and 
to  the  apprentice  to  the  tailor  who  makes  the  uniforms ;  all 
these  have  their  families  dependent  upon  them  or  have  influ 
ence  over  one  or  more  persons  ;  and  thus  in  every  country 
there  must  exist  a  large  number  of  individuals  who  are  bound 
by  their  interest  to  support  the  ruling  powers  in  whatever 
they  do  :  another  portion  of  the  inhabitants  give  their  assent 
to  laws  because  they  have  a  reverence  for  laws  in  general ; 
thinking  that,  whatever  the  law  may  be,  there  is  an  obliga 
tion  upon  them  to  comply  with  it  and  to  support  it,  or  be 
cause  being  interested  in  the  common  welfare  they  would 
prevent  any  change  from  taking  place  in  the  institutions — 
these  support  the  enactments  for  the  law's  sake.  Another 
and  far  the  greatest  portion  adhere  to  the  law,  or  suffer  it  to 
be  executed,  out  of  sheer  apathy ;  provided  they  are  not  dis 
turbed,  they  care  little  how  the  world  goes ;  whatever  may 
be  the  speculations  in  Utopia  and  elsewhere,  the  great  body 
of  mankind  belong  to  this  class ;  if  they  did  not,  we  should 
never  hear  of  oppressions,  for  otherwise  when  an  act  disa 
greeable  to  them  were  committed  the  body  would  move, 
and  a  single  motion  of  such  a  mass  would  shake  down  any 
throne  however  fortified,  as  the  movement,  a  mere  tremor, 
of  the  earth  prostrates  palaces  of  kings  and  crumbles  the 
cloud  capt  mountains.  An  assent  to  laws  must  then  be  given 
by  the  different  classes  or  component  parts  of  a  population, 
and  by  the  great  bulk  of  it,  either  by  engaging  actively  in 
obeying  them  and  causing  them  to  be  obeyed,  or  by  quietly 
submitting  to  them ;  the  interest  of  one  class  leads  to  the 
former  course,  the  indifference  of  another  to  the  latter  course, 
and  universally  there  is  a  prejudice  among  the  people  in 
favour  of  law.  But  where  this  prejudice  does  not  exist,  law 
cannot  exist ;  and  where  a  law  is  made  contradictory  to  a 
prejudice  which  is  stronger  than  the  general  one  on  the  side 
of  the  law,  or  in  other  words  stronger  than  that  prejudice 
upon  which  obedience  to  the  laws  is  founded,  in  such  a  case 


125 

the  repugnant  ordinance  would  just  go  out ;  it  would  be  as 
if  it  were  not  enacted,  unless  indeed  some  madcap  were  wild 
enough  to  make  it  the  excuse  for  disturbances,  or,  what  is 
more  usual,  some  interested  or  ambitious  man  were  to  en 
deavour  to  make  it  the  subject  of  popular  excitement  and 
the  stepping  stone  for  his  interest  or  his  ambition.  Such 
would  be  a  law  in  this  country,  in  the  south  at  least,  that 
negroes  might  be  members  of  congress ;  it  would  be  as  if 
it  never  had  been  made,  the  prejudices  of  the  people  would 
deprive  it  of  efficacy,  and  it  would  be  as  much  unexecuted 
as  if  it  never  had  passed. 

I  give  this  strong  example  only  to  make  my  idea  thorough 
ly  understood,  and  not  with  any  intention  of  an  offensive 
application  to  races  which  in  my  opinion  (be  it  right  or  be  it 
wrong)  are  far  superior  to  that  just  named. 

The  result  in  my  mind  of  this  train  of  reasoning  is  a  con 
viction  that  the  laws  which  declare  the  different  races  to  be 
perfectly  equal  in  Hispano-America,  however  just  and  cor 
rect  they  may  be,  will  remain  for  many  generations  nearly  as 
inoperative  as  if  they  never  had  been  passed.  I  say  nearly, 
because  there  may  arise  some  highly  gifted  individuals  who 
will  be  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  But  the  system,  or 
theory,  of  equality  will  be  nearly  nugatory,  because  it  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  pretension,  and  the  prejudices  of 
the  inhabitants,  prejudices  which  subsist  as  strongly  among 
the  coloured  population  as  among  the  whites  ;  they  entertain 
an  hereditary  reverential  prejudice  of  the  superiority  of  the 
whites :  it  is  the  same  sentiment  as  that  which  enabled  an 
handful  of  whites  to  conquer  millions  of  their  forefathers,  and 
to  overrun  the  vast  territories  now  under  consideration  :  if  it 
had  not  been  for  this  prejudice  the  vast  hosts  which  opposed 
Valdivia  and  his  two  hundred  Spaniards,  nay  the  Mapochians 
alone,  would  have  covered  the  invaders  with  a  tumulus  of 
stones,  which  they  could  have  done  if  each  of  them  had  thrown 
one,  in  spite  of  a  few  horses  and  of  some  bad  matchlock  mus 
kets.  As  long  as  this  prejudice,  or  rather  these  preposses 
sions,  exist  on  both  sides,  or  on  either  side,  the  whites  must 
remain  in  the  ascendancy  over  the  other  race,  whatever  may 
be  the  disproportion  of  the  numbers. 
R 


126 

Among  the  whites  themselves  great  inequality  must  exist 
for  a  long  time,  and  until  a  total  change  shall  take  place  in 
their  habits,  their  education,  and  their  character.  The 
country  was  originally  laid  off  in  large  donations  to  the  con 
querors  ;  and,  as  in  all  such  cases,  the  officers  had  the 
lion's  share.  I  have  before  dwelt  so  much  upon  the  inevit 
able  feodality,  in  principle  and  in  practice,  whatever  may  be 
the  letter  of  the  law,  which  is  incident  to  all  conquests  fol 
lowed  by  location  on  the  conquered  soil,  that  I  need  not  re 
new  the  argument  here.  Chili  does  not  form  an  exception 
to  the  precedents  quoted  above,  nor  to  the  inductions  drawn 
from  them,  nor  from  the  general  position  of  the  cidevant 
colonies.  Education  is  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
gentry,  to  the  descendants  of  the  conquering  chiefs,  and  of 
those  of  their  caste  who  followed  their  immigration  ;  and  edu 
cation  is  almost  invariably  influence.  But  this  source  of  in 
fluence  is  strengthened  in  Chili  by  the  long  continued  habits 
of  subserviency  among  the  other  classes  of  society  and  by  the 
disposition  of  the  wealth  of  the  country,  which  is  concentrated 
in  the  hands  of  the  upper  class ;  a  wealth  which  they  have 
abundant  bravery  to  defend,  even  if  the  enlightened  spirit  of 
the  age  permitted  the  sacred  rights  of  property  to  be  invaded. 
To  which  we  may  add  that  the  revolution  has  been  princi 
pally  the  work  of  the  gentry.  Whatever  therefore  may  be 
the  written  or  theoretical  equality  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Chili,  the  power  and  government  of  the  country  will  practi 
cally  and  actually  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  present  posses 
sors,  for  a  period  only  to  be  limited  by  the  slow  progress  of 
education,  of  other  habits,  and  of  commerce.  Some  deser 
ters  from  the  corps,  or  some  gifted  individuals  of  the  other 
castes  will  no  doubt  rouse  the  whole  mass  to  exercise  the 
franchises  given  by  laws,  in  order  to  advance  them  individually 
to  power  and  ascendancy;  but  the  moment  that  this  object 
is  gained,  they  will  be  reunited  to  their  corps  or  will  unite 
with  the  interests  of  the  ruling  caste;  just  as  we  have  seen  in 
Europe  nobles  quit  their  station  beside  their  peers  to  head 
popular  factions,  and,  after  violent  disturbances,  acquire 
higher  titles  or  greater  fortunes,  perhaps  thrones,  and  then 
join  again  the  ranks  of  their  original  companions,  to  gain  a 


127 

superiority  over  whom  they  quitted  their  places — just  as  we 
have  seen  men  not  nobles,  but  of  superior  talents,  rouse  the 
people  and  force  their  admission  into  the  class  which  their 
birth  did  not  give  them  a  right  to  enter.  Such  is  man :  and 
such  is  the  destiny  of  every  country  which  has  been  con 
quered  :  if  the  wants  of  the  labouring  classes  in  England 
were  to  occasion  a  complete  destruction  of  the  present  order 
of  things  there,  it  would  only  originate  a  fresh  race  of  no 
bility,  and  a  new  dynasty  of  kings.  The  condition  of  our 
country  is  therefore  (without  descending  to  cant,  or  to  af 
fectation  of  sentiment)  an  agreeable  spectacle  for  every 
lover  of  republican  institutions  ;  a  great  part  of  it  having  been 
settled  by  men  from  the  middle  class  of  society  in  the  mother 
country,  pretty  nearly  equal  to  one  another  in  knowledge, 
and  every  thing  else,  unless  where  their  spiritual  leaders 
formed  few  and  not  strongly  discriminated  exceptions; 
and  other  parts  having  been  occupied  by  the  vestiges  of 
two  broken  parties,  also  nearly  equal  among  themselves ; 
the  ancient  inhabitants  not  being  numerous  enough  to  be 
converted  into  vassals,  and  having  spaces  behind  them  to 
which  they  might  fly  to  avoid  the  common  destiny  of  con 
quered  nations  ;  the  experiment  of  a  pure  republican  form  of 
government  may  therefore  be  fairly  tried  here ;  and  as  yet 
every  appearance  indicates  a  long  duration  of  our  institu 
tions,  if  we  only  hold  together ;  for  we  are  thus  too  strong 
to  be  conquered  by  any  foreign  force — a  force  which,  if  con 
queror,  would  make  us  the  vassals  and  be  itself  the  noblesse. 
Our  only  danger  then  is  from  disunion;  because  if  separated, 
farewell  to  republican  forms  of  government;  mutual  hostilities, 
jealousy,  and  individual  ambition,  will  then  soon  overwhelm 
the  robe  by  the  sword,  and  such  a  state  of  things,  will  demand 
the  institution  of  a  fighting  corps,  a  Rajah  poot  caste,  to  de 
fend  the  independence  arid  the  property  of  the  several  miser 
able  sections,  which  will  run  the  career  of  the  nations  which 
have  preceded  us,  and  which  after  long  contests,  after  the 
distinction  of  ranks  shall  have  been  thoroughly  established, 
will  be  absorbed  by  one  overweening  power.  Far  from 
us,  and  from  our  posterity,  be  such  a  catastrophe. 

The  government  of  Chili  appears,  like  that  of  the  other 


128 

late  Spanish  colonies,  to  have  acquired  a  consistency. 
There  may  be  some  changes  of  the  individuals  at  the  head  of 
it,  or  in  its  forms,  but  it  is  consolidated  in  fact ;  and,  above 
all,  it  can  never  revert  to  its  old  masters,  nor  can  it  ever  be 
come  a  colony  to  any  power,  especially  to  a  foreign  power. 
It  would  not  astonish  me,  if  at  some  future  period  Chili,  Alto, 
Peru,  and  Peru  Proper  were  to  unite  themselves  into  one 
nation.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  relations  of  Chili  with 
B'lenos  Ayres,  and  of  Upper  Peru  with  Colombia,  as  well  as 
those  of  Peru  Proper  with  the  same  country,  I  should  think 
this  union  likely  to  take  place,  before  a  very  remote  time : 
if  Peru  had  not  concluded  its  revolutionary  struggle  aided 
by  Colombia,  such  an  event  would  have  been  almost  certain ; 
and  they  would  have  formed  a  very  fine,  rich,  and  strong  na 
tion.  As  things  have  turned  up,  they  will  most  likely  re 
main  for  a  considerable  time  in  their  actual  condition  ;  nei 
ther  is  strong  enough  to  conquer  the  other,  and  if  they  ever 
unite  it  will  be  by  amicable  treaty.  However  this  is  specu 
lating  far  ahead. 


h 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


U, 


PPER  Peru,  now  the  republic  of  Bolivar,  is  another  of 
those  countries  whose  statistics  are  difficult  to  be  ascertained. 
Humboldt*  quoting  Schmidtmeyer,  calls  the  population  of 
the  Provincias  de  La  Sierra  1,300,000;  he  gives  the  area  of 
Upper  Peru  as  37,020  square  leaguesf.  Brackenridge  J  calls 


*  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  p.  366. 

t  Ibid.  p.  171. 

t  Ibid.  Vol.  II.  p.  144. 


129 

the  population  of  Upper  Peru  1,500,000;  he  enumerates  the 
provinces  of  Charcas,  Potosi,  La  Paz,  and  Cochabamba  at 
1,496,000,  Santa  Cruz  de  La  Sierra,  Moxos  and  Chiquitos  at 
220,000,  making  a  total  of  1,716,000  of  which  500,000 
whites  and  986,000  Indians*.  But  the  Gaceta  de  Colombia, 
the  official  journal  at  Bogota,  gives,  in  the  number  of  the 
27th  of  November  1825,  the  decree  of  the  general  assembly 
of  Upper  Peru  dated  the  llth  of  August  1825,  constituting 
the  future  denomination  to  be  the  Republic  of  Bolivarf  ;  and 
in  the  succeeding  paragraph,  not  marked  however  as  offi 
cial,  there  is  an  estimate  of  the  population  of  "  the  six  pro 
vinces  of  Upper  Peru  which  have  erected  themselves  into  a 
new  republic  denominated  Bolivar  in  honour  of  the  libera 
tor,  &c. ;  viz.  La  Paz,  Potosi,  Cochabamba,  Oruro,  Chuqui- 
zaca,  and  Santa  Cruz.  They  contain  a  population  approxi 
mating  a  million  of  souls,"  &c.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  act  and  declaration  of  independence  dated  the  6th  of 
August  1825,  published  in  the  same  Gazette  of  the  llth  of 
December  1825,  is  signed  by  the  deputies  of  Charcas,  Po 
tosi,  La  Paz,  Cochabamba,  and  Santa  Cruz.  I  take  the 
semi-official  estimate  and  the  official  document,  to  be  sub 
stantially  correct ;  with  only  one  observation,  that  it  is  said 
by  the  South  Americans,  and  no  doubt  with  great  justice,  that 
the  enumerations  of  the  inhabitants  by  order  of  the  govern 
ments  are  likely  to  be  underrated,  as  the  people  concealed 
as  much  as  possible  their  actual  numbers,  out  of  fear  of  the 
levies  of  men  or  money,  to  apportion  which  these  enumera 
tions  were  generally  made :  those  calculations  therefore  which 
were  deduced  from  the  old  Spanish  colonial  documents,  are 
probably  near  the  truth.  The  great  uncertainty,  existing  to 
the  latest  dates,  respecting  the  geography  and  political  situ 
ation  of  the  provinces  lying  in  the  interior  of  the  continent, 
has  occasioned  the  variation  among  different  authors  in  their 
designation  of  the  provinces  which  they  denominate  Upper 


*  Huraboldt,  pp.  148,  149. 

t  It  is  curious  that  this  should  have  been  published  as  Bolivia  in  most  of  our 
newspapers,  and  in  the  Colombian  state  papers  and  journals. 


130 

Peru,  but  the  official  declaration  above  quoted  admits  of  no 
contradiction. 

The  republic  of  Bolivar  has  adopted  the  constitution  pro 
posed  to  it  by  the  liberator,  and  has  chosen  him  president  for 
life,  with  leave  to  name  his  successor.  This  is  a  strong  form 
of  government,  with  checks  upon  the  executive  and  legislative 
powers,  the  efficacy  of  which  remain  to  be  proved.  Some  of 
its  provisions,  particularly  that  of  the  presidency  for  life,  were 
discussed  by  the  convention  which  established  our  constitu 
tion;  but  some  of  the  details,  the  mechanism,  of  the  govern 
ment,  so  to  express  it,  are  as  new  as  they  are  complicated ;  if 
the  engine  thus  complicated  will  work,  it  is  probable  that  the 
nation  will  remain  republican  ;  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  as 
long  as  Bolivar  is  at  its  head ;  but  it  is  very  questionable 
whether  the  inhabitants  will  not  get  tired  of  so  many  forms  as 
are  prescribed  and  desire  to  simplify  the  system* :  if  a  man 
should  succeed  Bolivar  who  wishes  to  strengthen  the  hands 
of  the  chief  magistrate,  he  will  have  little  difficulty,  it  seems 
to  me,  in  creating  a  disgust  for  the  complexity  of  the  present 
constitution  ;  then  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  this  plan, 
added  to  their  ancient  predilections,  will  not  have  so  prepared 
the  people's  mind  for  monarchy,  as  to  lead  to  such  a  govern 
ment.  Still  I  do  not  conceive  that  a  monarchy  can  be  any 
where  established  in  the  new  nations  without  its  assuming  a 
constitutional  shape,  probably  on  the  model  of  the  govern 
ments  of  France  or  England,  with  an  extensive  representa 
tion  of  the  white  population  at  least.  The  question  there-' 
fore  of  the  durability  of  republicanism  in  the  republic  of 
Bolivar,  I  believe,  will  depend  greatly  upon  the  general  adop 
tion  of  the  American  system  which  it  is  the  object  of  this 
memoir  to  advocate.  For  the  present,  the  government  of 
this  nation  appears  to  be  sufficiently  characterized  with  the 
modifications  of  permanency,  and  sufficiently  established, 
for  all  the  purposes  of  civil  society,  in  its  exterior  as  well  as 
its  interior  relations ;  and  there  cannot  be  a  hesitation  in  de- 


< 

*  The  writer  little  imagined  when  he  penned  this  sheet  that  his  calculations 
would  so  soon  be  verified  :  he  does  not  efface  because  it  yet  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  the  Bolivian  constitution  will  not  ultimately  prevail. 


131 

ciding  that  it  is  for  ever  enfranchised  from  foreign  dominion. 
Although  I  am  not  able  to  cite  authorities,  as  heretofore, 
for  the  numerical  ratio  of  the  different  races  which  inhabit 
this  country,  yet  the  proportion  assigned  by  judge  Bracken- 
ridge  for  the  provinces  he  enumerated  as  above  quoted  is 
probably  not  far  from  being  correct  with  respect  to  the  re 
public  of  Bolivar,  that  is,  the  whites  constitute  about  one- 
third  of  the  population,  the  remainder  being  of  the  mixed 
race  and  Indians ;  there  are  very  few  negroes  or  mulattoes. 
Whatever  has  been  said,  in  treating  of  the  other  cidevant  co 
lonies,  respecting  the  ascendancy  of  the  whites,  applies  to  this 
country ;  but  I  must  confess  that  the  devotion  exhibited  for  the 
liberator,  which  is  almost  the  same  sentiment  as  that  which 
is  in  royal  dominions  called  loyalty,  and  the  strength  of  the 
constitution  which  has  been  adopted,  seem  to  manifest  even 
a  greater  aptitude  for  a  constitutional  kingdom  than  is 
exhibited  by  any  of  the  other  states.  If  Bolivar  had  sons 
I  should  be  inclined  to  anticipate  their  succession,  un 
der  colour  of  an  appointment  by  the  incumbent,  at  the 
entreaty  of  the  legislative  bodies,  which  might  easily  be  got 
up  by  a  skilful  and  popular  chief;  but  as  he  has  not  child 
ren,  and  as  he  is  now  of  an  age  when  he  can  hardly  expect 
to  have  them  of  sufficient  maturity  to  be  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  government  until  he  is  far  advanced  in  life,  I  must 
infer  from  the  precedents  in  history  that,  in  case  the  present 
form  of  government  lasts,  at  least  one  succession  will  take 
place  strictly  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  con 
stitution  he  has  established.  The  character  of  Bolivar  how 
ever,  and  the  proofs  he  has  given  of  his  preference  of  fame 
to  power,  are  guarantees  of  his  sincerity,  even  if  he  had  heirs 
in  the  direct  line  to  succeed  him,  and  much  more  standing  as 
he  does  without  the  strong  inducement  of  parental  affection 
to  prompt  a  deviation  from  the  splendid  career  he  has  chalk 
ed  out  for  himself.  If  then  the  American  system  be  adopted, 
the  republic  of  Bolivar  will  probably  continue  for  a  long  time 
in  its  present  situation ;  if  not,  no  man  can  answer  for  its  desti 
nies,  nor  for  the  effect  of  the  complexity  of  its  constitution  : 
and  then  it  is  very  certain  that  the  character  of  the  Bolivians 
must  possess  much  more  stability  than  that  of  any  other  peo- 


132 

pie  which  has  preceded  them  on  the  great  stage  of  history, 
if  they  do  not  follow  what  appears  to  have  been  the  course  of 
every  nation,  except  our  own,  and  after  various  alterations 
or  contests  subside  into  the  calm  of  an  hereditary  monarchy 
— although  I  still  maintain  that  there  is  little  probability  of 
this  any  more  than  of  the  other  states  adopting  any  modifi 
cation  of  monarchy  without  a  constitution  and  a  representa 
tive  system.  The  limitrophe  empire  of  Brazil  gives  an  ex 
ample  of  this  kind  of  monarchy ;  but  the  fact  is  that  Chili  is 
as  near  to  China  for  all  purposes  of  communication  as  Chu- 
quizaca  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  indeed  the  access  by  sea  is  ea 
sier  than  the  passage  of  the  immense  unknown  regions  which 
separate  the  empire  from  the  republics,  or  rather  separate 
the  populations,  the  substance,  and  the  body  of  the  respec 
tive  nations,  wheresoever  their  boundary  lines  may  be  imagi 
ned  to  run;  the  communication  between  them  is  likely  to 
be  for  a  long  time  down  the  river  La  Plata,  or  by  sea,  to 
Buenos  Ayres :  so  that  the  forms  adopted  in  Brazil  will  not 
much  affect  the  republic,  whatever  may  be  the  operation  of 
the  examples  of  Chili,  Peru  Proper,  and  especially  of  Colom 
bia  with  which  it  is  now  so  intimately  connected. 

But  there  is  a  cause  which  will  much  more  immediately 
press  upon  the  general  sentiment,  and  the  forms  of  govern 
ment  in  the  republic  of  Bolivar  as  well  as  in  all  the  new 
states ;  it  will  be  found  in  the  propensities  and  prejudices  of 
the  Indian  portion  of  the  population,  and  their  descendants 
however  mixed  with  other  blood.  I  have  already  endea-  • 
voured  to  explain  my  idea  that  democratic  institutions  can 
hardly  be  said  to  exist  in  countries  where  so  large  a  propor 
tion  of  the  population  is  composed  of  a  race  which  is  looked 
upon  as  subordinate  to  the  whites  in  consequence  of  deeply 
rooted  prejudices.  If  the  present  patriotic,  I  had  almost  said 
cosmopolite,  declarations  of  the  leaders  of  public  opinion, 
and  of  the  governments,  could  be  carried  into  effect,  the 
Indians  would  be  elevated  to  an  equality  of  condition  in  so 
ciety  and  to  an  equal  participation  in  the  government,  by 
the  diffusion  of  education  and  of  all  the  privileges  of  the 
citizens ;  in  this  case  the  Indians  would  bring  into,  and  add 
to,  the  common  stock,  their  prejudices,  their  habits  of  think- 


133 

ing,  and  their  propensities  for  particular  forms  of  govern 
ment.  And  what  are  they  9  We  know  that  their  governments, 
at  the  time  of  the  conquests  of  their  several  countries  by 
the  Spaniards,  bore  a  remarkable  affinity,  a  strong  family 
likeness,  to  the  constitutional  empires  or  kingdoms  of  Eu 
rope — first  were  the  emperor,  the  inca,  the  toqui;  charac 
terized  by  all  the  attributes  of  the  European  monarchs,  almost 
enshrined  within  their  palaces,  or  surrounded  by  a  court  and 
guards  paying  them  almost  divine  honours  when  they  left 
their  usual  places  of  abode,  qualified  in  terms  equivalent  to 
the  sacred  majesty,  semper  augustus,  dread  sovereign,  most 
potent  king,  your  grace,  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  twenty 
other  hyperboles  which  attach  to  crowns  and  supreme  power 
in  those  monarchies  which  assume  to  be  peculiarly  civilized; 
to  which  were  added  descents  and  titles  equally  pretended 
to  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  from  the  heroes  of  the  darkest  ages 
of  antiquity,  the  Lydian  kings,  the  Roman  emperors,  the 
conquering  prophets,  children  of  the  sun,  and  brothers  of 
the  moon.  Then  came  the  caciques,  the  apoulmenes,  al 
most  sovereigns  in  their  own  territories,  where  they  were 
approached  with  homage  nearly  similar  to  those  of  the  mon- 
archs,  with  state  and  pomp  equal  to  those  of  the  English 
or  French  dukes  or  the  German  electors,  and  yet  who  were 
proud  of  occupying  titles  and  places  in  the  households  of 
their  sovereigns;  then  caciques  of  the  second  order,  or 
simple  ulmenes,  powerful  in  their  districts,  filling,  like  the 
noblesse  of  Europe,  the  subordinate  offices  of  the  army  and 
of  the  civil  department :  nor  must  the  hierarchies  be  forgot 
ten  so  resembling  those  of  Europe.  After  the  conquest, 
to  the  hereditary  attachment  and  prejudices  of  these  Indians 
in  favour  of  the  descendants  of  their  ancient  and  indigenous 
princes  was  added  a  new  subordination  to  the  colonial  no 
bility,  and  generally  to  the  white  race.  If  the  Indians 
therefore  should  be  elevated  to  the  grade  of  constituent 
members  of  the  new  form  and  organization  of  society,  they 
will  bring  into  it  their  old  prejudices,  the  more  concentrated 
and  the  more  inveterate  from  having  been  so  long  compres 
sed,  in  favour  of  forms  of  government  which  their  education, 
and  their  habits  of  thought,  have  rivetted  upon  their  minds. 
S 


134 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  not  admitted  to  an  equality 
with  the  whites,  how  can  governments  be  called  democratic 
in  which  the  majority  of  the  population  is  held  to  be  inferior 
to  a  class  privileged  by  its  colour,  or  by  any  other  cause? 
It  is  a  curious  predicament,  in  which  without  introducing 
such  an  equality  there  can  not  be  a  democracy,  and  yet 
when  introduced  it  will  bring  with  it  prejudices  and  causes 
which  have  a  tendency  to  monarchy  and  aristocracy. 

The  jealousy  which  always  has  existed,  and  always  will 
subsist,  between  people  of  different  races  and  different  co 
lours,  will  come  in  as  a  further  inducement  to  the  adoption 
of  forms,  to  which  one  caste  may  be  reconciled  by  their  being 
connected  with  traditions  of  long  lost  national  indepen 
dence,  power,  and  splendour,  and  which  are  fresh  in  the 
experience  or  recollection  of  another  caste  in  association 
with  reminiscences  of  recent  superiority  and  the  pride  of 
conquests.  This  jealousy  has  not  heretofore  been  able  to 
shew  itself,  indeed  it  did  not  exist;  for  the  feelings  which 
predominated  among  the  Indians  in  their  subdued  condition 
must  have  been  ineffectual  hatred  to  the  ascendant  caste  or 
the  humility  of  a  subjugated  race ;  the  other  race  could  not 
entertain  an  idea  of  rivalship.  But  when  those  who  were 
formerly  depressed  and  disregarded  are  raised  to  a  legal 
equality  and  are  placed  in  a  condition  in  which  they  may 
compete  with  their  former  masters,  then  jealousy  will  ensue, 
and  probably  violent  contests ;  the  wealth,  organization,  dis 
cipline,  and  above  all  the  habitual  superiority,  on  one  side ; 
and  the  numerical  force  disproportionately  on  the  other 
side.  I  have  no  doubt  that  all  contests  will  terminate  as 
heretofore  to  the  advantage  of  the  whites :  but  both  sides, 
fatigued  with  the  dangers,  insecurity,  and  apprehensions 
which  must  attend  such  a  state  of  things,  will  naturally  seek 
for  a  mediatory  power,  which  may  protect  on  one  hand  and 
maintain  the  party  most  likely  to  be  overwhelmed  in  its  newly 
acquired  rights,  and  on  the  other  may  guard  the  less  nume 
rous  party  from  the  encroachments,  and  even  the  spoliations 
or  invasion  of  the  rights  of  property  and  security  of  person 
which  it  will  apprehend  from  those  whom  it  had  long  kept 
in  a  state  of  subserviency.  Both  parties  will  look  for  a 


135 

power  which  is  able  to  keep  peace  between  them.  This 
power  will  be  found  in  a  sovereign  with  a  strong  army  to 
enforce  his  decrees.  The  power  of  the  European  monarchs 
mainly  originated  from  this  principle,  more  or  less  developed: 
the  ambition,  influence,  and  power  of  individuals  certainly 
were  the  immediate  causes;  those  individuals  being  however 
generally  and  originally  kings  or  chiefs  of  the  conquering 
nations,  but  who  were,  as  we  have  before  intimated,  and 
cited  history  for  the  proof,  little  more  than  presidents  for 
life,  a  life  continually  in  hazard.  They  could  not  neverthe 
less  have  permanently  extended  the  limits  of  their  authority, 
if  they  had  not  been  able  to  array  against  the  nobles  and  the 
conquerors,  the  numerical  force  of  the  mass  of  the  people, 
the  conquered  race,  endued  with  consistency  by  concen 
tration  round  the  monarch,  and  with  stability,  by  rallying  it 
to  this  standard,  together  with  those  nobles  or  those  of  the 
conquerors  who  were  attached  to  him  from  affection,  interest, 
or  hostility  against  others  of  their  own  caste,  coping  the 
whole  with  the  king's  name,  "  a  tower  of  strength."  Or  if 
they  had  not  found  means  to  marshal  against  the  body  of  the 
people,  the  gallant  chivalry  whose  discipline  and  esprit 
de  corps  more  than  sufficed  to  counterbalance  a  formidable 
disparity  of  numerical  force  :  thus  alternately  subduing  the 
one  party  by  the  other,  the  noblesse  and  their  adherents  by 
the  people,  and  these  by  the  others.  This  intermediatory 
power,  therefore,  will  probably  be  called  upon  to  protect 
either  party  against  the  encroachments  of  the  other,  in  all 
countries  where  such  parties  exist.  But  neither  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  the  dissemination  of  liberal  ideas,  their  precedent 
prejudices  and  habits,  nor  the  characters  of  the  individuals 
who  lead,  nor  of  the  nations  in  question,  will  admit  of  a  mo 
narchical  form  of  government  without  a  regular  constitution 
and  an  organized  distribution  of  the  four  grand  powers  of 
civilized,  nay  of  every,  society — the  executive,  the  judiciary, 
the  aristocratic,  and  the  popular. 

These  positions  apply  to  the  hypothetical  condition  which 
I  do  not  believe  will  occur,  that  the  prejudice  of  superiority 
on  the  side  of  the  whites,  and  inferiority  on  that  of  the  other 
colours,  will  be  effaced  by  public  sentiment,  as  well  as  by 


136 

the  laws.  It  can  scarcely  be  expected  that  for  ages  to  come 
events  will  destroy  the  indurated  impressions  of  more  than 
three  hundred  years,  not  to  go  further  back  and  search  for 
their  origin  in  nature,  or  in  the  almost  obliterated  traditions 
of  the  children  of  the  sun. 

If  then  the  races  preserve  their  relative  situation  with 
respect  to  one  another,  as  it  is  my  opinion  they  will,  the  pre 
sent  forms  of  government  will  endure  for  a  considerable 
time,  under  modifications  no  doubt,  but  still  founded  upon 
the  same  principles — principles  producing  the  effects,  as  I 
believe,  which  have  been  heretofore  so  largely  discussed; 
but  whose  durability  and  whose  resemblance  to  democrati- 
cal  institutions  will  mainly  depend  upon  the  formation  of  a 
confederacy  which  will  interdict  wars  within  or  between 
the  American  states,  thus  depriving  ambition,  one  germ*  of 
the  despotic  principle,  at  once  of  its  plausible  excuse  for 
grasping  supreme  domination,  and  of  its  means  and  imple 
ment  for  making  the  acquisition. 

, 


*  And  only  one  germ.  This  ambition  must  be  supported  by  the  imperative 
principle,  the  faculty  cf  commanding,  else  it  falls ;  and  it  must  be  also  supported 
by  the  other  germ  of  despotism — the  submissive  principle,  the  impulse  of  obedi 
ence — that  which  qualifies  men  to  be  reigned  over — that  flocking  disposition 
which  induces  men  to  follow  where  some  individuals  lead — that  which  makes  some 
soldiers  fly  when  their  chief  is  down — the  sentiment  which  makes  people  take 
the  horses  from  other  men's  carriages  and  perform  the  part  of  horses  or  donkeys 
themselves — they  call  it  loyalty  abroad.  The  two  germs  are  necessary  to  engen 
der  despotism,  for,  unless  some  would  drag  the  triumphal  car,  none  could  ride  in  it, 
and  vice  versa :  and  what  is  remarkable,  one  of  these  creates  the  other,  for  where 
some  cringe,  others  will  domineer. 

idfld 

.5    'fit.  '<(.£ 

r*   tuoTT 

t)b  <rob  £  &s 

noiifiiuq 

- 
• 
. 


137 

*'•" 


OBfll 


fit  TV*  • 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

noqi.1  lv*bm»o) 

_ 

m 

J_  HE  last  of  the  cidevant  Spanish  colonies,  in  the  order 
which  has  been  adopted,  now  constitutes  the  republic  of  Peru 
proper  ;  and  the  cursory  review  of  its  situation  will  conclude 
my  observations  upon  the  particular  condition  of  Hispano- 
America. 

In  the  work  which  has  furnished  me  with  the  greater  part 
of  the  materials  for  the  statistics  of  these  countries,  there 
appear  some  discrepancies  for  which  I  cannot  account,  but 
the  general  inferences  will  not  be  much  affected  by  them. 

The  area  of  Peru  is  given  in  Vol.  VI.  Part  I.  page  339, 
of  Humboldt's  Personal  Narrative,  at  41,400  square  leagues  ; 
in  page  167  at  41,500;  in  pages  127  and  169  at  41,420;  and 
in  page  171  at  37,020.  In  page  339  the  population  is  set 
down  at  1,400,000  souls,  being  thirty-four  to  the  square 
league  on  an  area  of  41,400  leagues.  In  page  138  it  is 
stated  that  thirty  years  ago  (from  1824)  Peru  contained 
1,000,000,  of  which  600,000  were  Indians,  240,000  mesti 
zoes,  40,000  slaves,  and  thence  120,000  whites.  These  pro 
portions  probably  are  still  nearly  correct,  and  it  is  also  pro 
bable  that  the  given  number  of  inhabitants  in  1823  as  well 
as  the  average  number  of  inhabitants  to  the  square  league 
vary  from  strict  accuracy  only  by  some  fractions.  There 
can  not  be  a  doubt  but  that  the  rumours  of  a  sensible  de 
crease  of  population  in  all  these  countries,  in  consequence 
of  the  relentless  manner  in  which  their  revolutionary  wars 
were  conducted,  have  a  serious  foundation.  But  at  the  same 
time  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  prolific  nature  of  the  cli- 


mate  and  of  the  constitutions  of  the  people  have  done  much 
to  repair  the  losses,  and  therefore,  allowing  for  the  time  that 
has  elapsed  since  the  war  terminated  in  the  several  countries, 
it  is  most  likely  that  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  is  at  this 
moment  (1827)  pretty  nearly  what  it  was  computed  by  Hum- 
boldt  in  1823.  At  any  rate,  the  general  results,  and  the 
train  of  reasoning  upon  political  economy,  are  not  affected 
by  slight  variations  from  strict  accuracy.  These  matters, 
and  the  data  upon  which  they  are  founded,  can  never,  from 
the  nature  of  things,  be  more  than  approximative. 

Peru  was  the  seat  of  the  second  best  viceroyalty  in  the 
gift  of  Spain;  habits  of  luxury  and  ostentation  were  car 
ried  to  an  Asiatic  excess ;  there  was  a  vast  deal  of  the  ac 
tual  reality  of  aristocracy  in  presence  of  an  absolute  chief, 
as  well  as  much  of  the  outward  exhibition  of  it;  and  the 
power  of  the  viceroy  was  in  effect  absolute,  whatever 
might  have  been  the  nominal  counterpoise  of  the  audi- 
encia.  The  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  at  the  date  given 
above,  at  once  accounts  for,  and  justifies  (as  far  as  military 
predominance  can  be  justified)  by  the  impulse  of  self  preser 
vation,  the  despotic  nature  of  the  government  of  Lima : 
there  were  140,000  whites  interspersed  among  a  subjugated 
population  of  880,000  souls  of  the  other  castes,  among  whom 
were  40,000  negro  slaves  owned  by  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  the  aristocracy ;  this  alone  would  have  been  suf 
ficient  to  cause  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  species  of 
martial  law;  for  without  the  essence  of  that  law,  a  rigid 
subordination  among  the  dominant  class  and  a  severe  sur 
veillance  over  the  subdued  castes,  the  former  must  have 
been  overpowered  by  the  latter :  the  luxury  derived  its  ori 
gin  from  the  same  cause;  for  nothing  is  more  generally 
known  than  that  the  military  are  naturally  luxurious,  seek 
ing  to  indemnify  themselves  in  anticipation  or  after  a  cam 
paign  for  the  fatigues  and  deprivations  of  active  service ;  this 
is  fostered  and  increased  by  the  homage  which  has  ever 
been"  paid,  and  ever  will  be,  to  the  brilliant  profession  of  the 
sword.  But  another  cause  corroborated  the  former  institu 
tions  of  Peru;  it  was  the  quasi  place  of  arms  for  Chili  during 
the  long  and  bloody  wars  with  the  Araucanian  Indians  which 


139 

more  than  once  threatened  the  existence  of  the  Spanish  do 
minion  in  that  country ;  and  therefore  Peru  was  influenced 
not  only  by  the  spirit  of  its  own  military,  but  to  it  was  added  a 
frequent  reinforcement  by  the  arrival  of  the  recruits  for  Chili 
which  passed  by  Lima  after  the  fatigues  of  a  sea  voyage 
and  long  marches  by  land,  during  the  time  occupied  by 
both  of  which  the  pay  of  the  forces  must  have  accumulated 
for  mere  want  of  opportunity  to  expend  it,  and,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  improvident  and  generous  soldiers,  they  must  have 
seized  the  earliest  opportunity  to  spend  their  money  in  a 
delicious  climate  full  of  new  and  untried  luxuries;  while  con 
sciousness  of  their  strength  and  well  founded  hopes  of  con 
quest  inspired  them  with  a  dashing  and  imperious  temper. 
Far  be  it  from  me  to  aim  sarcastic  or  depreciatory  observa 
tions  against  the  profession  of  arms,  the  profession  which  has 
generated  the  grandest,  the  sublimest,  emotions  and  re 
sources  of  the  human  soul,  or  to  decry  that  art  for  which 
many  causes  fill  me  with  respect;  but,  in  spite  of  all  my 
predilections  for  it,  I  can  not  disguise  from  myself  the  ten 
dencies  of  the  military  spirit. 

The  circumstances  of  colonial  Peru  were  such  as  inevita 
bly  to  give  to  the  country  and  to  its  government,  as  well  as 
to  its  inhabitants,  a  complexion  more  despotic  and  aristocra 
tic  than  that  of  any  of  the  other  colonies :  and  we  see  that 
the  contest  between  the  colony  and  the  mother  country  was 
consequently  terminated  at  a  later  period  than  in  the  other 
colonies. 

The  invasion  of  Peru  by  San  Martin  would  have  given,  if 
it  had  been  successful  and  if  he  had  possessed  the  requisite 
talents,  a  new  impulse  to  the  old  spirit  of  the  country ;  it 
would  not  have  been  so  much  a  liberation  as  a  new  conquest, 
renewing  the  principles  of  conquest  in  the  persons  of  the  Chi 
lian  soi  disant  auxiliaries,  and  of  those  Peruvian  chiefs  wha 
made  common  cause  with  them.  The  result  of  all  the  cir 
cumstances  under  which  Peru  stood  as  a  colony,  and  in  her 
revolutionary  contest,  is  that  she  has  the  germs  of  anti-re 
publican  institutions  enracinated  in  her  territory  more  deeply 
than  they  are  in  any  of  the  other  new  states,  as  I  believe. 
Bolivar  completed  the  liberation  of  Peru,  and  it  remains  to 


140 

be  shewn  what  will  be  the  effect  of  the  influence  of  his  ex 
ample  and  his  principles,  which  1  think  have  been  demon 
strated  by  his  whole  conduct  to  be  as  republican  as  the 
condition  of  South  America  will  permit :  he  has  a  most  dif 
ficult  part  to  act,  but  it  seems  as  if  providence  has  endowed 
him  with  all  the  qualifications  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
perform  it  with  equal  renown  to  himself  and  advantage  to 
the  immense  regions  which  regard  him  as  their  tutelary 
angel. 

Assuming  the  above  details  to  be  sufficiently  correct,  the 
observations,  heretofore  made  relative  to  the  other  states 
apply  also  to  Peru,  and  therefore  will  not  be  recapitulated. 
The  disproportion  between  the  whites,  and  Indians  with  the 
mixed  blood,  is  enormous;  the  prejudices  of  superiority  on 
the  one  side  and  of  inferiority  on  the  other  are  the  same  here 
as  in  the  other  countries,  and  will  produce  the  same  results 
which  have  been  ascribed  to  them  elsewhere :  a  species  of 
equality  will  subsist  among  the  whites,  but  laws  cannot  es 
tablish  it  between  this  caste  and  the  others  until  a  length  of 
years  shall  have  obliterated  those  deep  rooted  prejudices. 
If  the  country  remains  at  peace,  its  present  form  of  govern 
ment  will  continue,  and  meanwhile  it  is  sufficiently  estab 
lished  and  consolidated  to  be  adequate  to  all  purposes  of 
domestic  or  of  exterior  relations.  But  to  preserve  republican 
institutions  the  interposition  of  the  great  American  system 
is  necessary. 

Peru  will  necessarily  be  a  commercial  nation  to  a  great 
fextent ;  her  mines  alone  will  secure  her  this  advantage  ;  and 
the  excellence  of  her  climate,  the  wants  and  the  desires  of 
her  population,  with  the  goodness  of  the  soil  in  many  parts  of 
her  territory,  would  make  her  commercial,  even  if  she  pos 
sessed  no  mines  ;  a  nation  with  such  inclinations  and  with 
such  resources  to  supply  her  with  means  to  purchase  gratifi 
cations  cannot  fail  to  become  a  large  exporter  as  well  as  im 
porter.  From  this  circumstance,  and  from  the  extent  of  the 
Peruvian  sea  coast,  from  the  intercourse  which  has  subsisted 
by  sea  with  Chili  particularly,  from  the  evident  propensity  of 
the  people  who  reside  upon  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  from 
the  facility  with  which  ship*  timber  may  be  procured,  from  the 


141 

enjoyment  of  health  upon  the  coast  so  much  superior  to  that 
on  the  Atlantic  side,  from  the  temptation  of  the  markets 
of  the  East  Indias,  together  with  those  of  the  numerous 
islands  of  the  intermediate  seas,  and  finally  from  the  immense 
advantage  which  they  may  derive  in  pursuing  the  whale  fish 
ery,  so  abundant  in  the  ocean  that  washes  their  strand,  or  in 
taking  other  marine  animals,  from  all  these  causes  extensive 
maritime  speculations  must  arise  ;  thence  will  follow  the  ne 
cessity  of  an  armed  marine  to  guard  their  interests,  and  a 
supply  of  sailors  will  thence  be  created  as  well  as  the  know 
ledge  and  aptitude  necessary  for  a  navy.  The  same  argu 
ments  apply  to  Chili  and  to  the  Pacific  bord  of  Guatimala 
and  Colombia.  I  have  brought  both  together  into  one  point 
of  view  to  avoid  repetition.  The  distance  of  these  countries 
from  Europe,  and  their  demand  for  the  commodities  of  the 
old  manufacturing  nations,  would  seem  to  require  that  they 
should  not  rely  upon  foreign  navigation  but  should  profit  of 
the  facilities  which  nature  has  afforded  them,  and  especially 
of  their  comparative  immunity  from  disease  which  I  have 
formerly  stated  as  one  of  the  greatest  impediments  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  eastern  sea 
coast  addicting  themselves  to  maritime  enterprise  to  any  great 
extent.  The  mutual  demand  of  those  countries  for  their  re 
ciprocal  productions  will  be  a  further  stimulus  for  their  be 
taking  themselves  to  the  ocean,  in  preference  to  a  tedious, 
expensive,  and  dangerous  land  transportation,  across  the  vast 
deserts,  which  separate  them,  sometimes  by  burning  sands, 
and  more  generally  by  arduous  mountains  :  indeed  the  bulk 
of  some  of  the  articles  which  they  interchange,  the  wheat  of 
Chili  for  example,  seems  to  forbid  land  carriage. 

I  infer,  upon  the  whole,  that  the  great  scene  of  South 
American  and  Mexican  navies  and  commercial  navigation 
will  be  the  Pacific,  and  do  not  doubt  but  that  it  will  be  esta 
blished  upon  a  large  scale.  The  first  development  of  their 
destiny  has  been  made  by  the  liberal  employment  of  naval 
forces  by  Chili  and  Peru  during  their  late  contest  with 
Spain  ;  the  fate  of  both  appears  to  have  been  materially  in 
fluenced  by  their  fleets ;  in  which  large  numbers  of  the  na 
tives  have  been  employed  mixed  with  Europeans  or  North 


142 

Americans,  from  whose  experience  and  discipline  they  must 
have  learned  the  most  useful  lessons.  The  archipelago  of 
Chiloe,  and  the  necessity  of  frequent  intercourse  between 
the  islands  composing  it  and  the  main  land,  would  alone  be 
a  guarantee  for  the  prevalence  of  a  maritime  disposition  in 
the  dominions  of  Chili :  these  islands  are  at  once  a  provoca 
tion  to  naval  expeditions  and  a  fruitful  nursery  for  seamen. 


•ii  Jl 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

>  b(o 
— — 

T. 
HUS  has  a  summary,  much  more  extensive  than  I  had 
expected  it  to  be,  laborious  to  myself,  and  I  fear  tedious  to 
many  of  my  readers — thus  have  data,  and  arguments  ground 
ed  upon  them,  too  long  for  a  mere  pamphlet,  and  yet  I  fear 

^not  long  enough  nor  strong  enough  to  produce  the  conviction 
which  it  has  been  my  desire  to  establish — thus  have  historical 
positions,  what  I  believe  to  be  statistical  facts,  and  reasoning 
drawn  from  them — thus  have  all  the  preceding  pages, — pre 
pared  for  the  discussion,  which  they  were  designed  to  sup 
port,  of  the  most  important  topic  that  has  ever  been  offered 
to  the  world.  What  previous  conception  has  equalled 
in  moment  the  project  of  uniting  the  whole  American  conti 
nent  in  one  grand,  splendid,  and  powerful  confederation1? 
It  was  not  equalled  in  importance  by  the  design  of  the 

.same  kind  of  the  generous  Henry  the  fourth  and  his  Sully, 
and  the  black  hearted  Elizabeth,  for  regulating  the  disputes 
of  Europe  by  an  areopagus  of  monarchs — not  by  the  exist 
ing  Holy  Alliance  :  the  materials  on  which  European  indus 
try  "is  chiefly  employed,  the  articles  which  contribute  to 
European  luxury,  those  which  are  become  articles  of  almost 
primary  necessity,  and  the  far  greater  part  of  the  monetary 
representatives  of  value,  are  derived  principally  from  Ame- 


143 

rica :  the  country  whence  are  furnished  the  means  of  ac 
quiring  wealth  must  be,  in  this  light  at  least,  of  greater 
importance  than  those  countries  where  they  are  employed 
or  where  they  acquire  new  forms;  that  country,  and  those 
politics  must  be  considered  of  prior  importance  which  can 
stop  half  the  industry  and  close  the  mints  of  another  conti 
nent  by  a  simple  commercial  interdict.  The  project  is  not 
equalled  by  the  Roman  designs  of  universal  empire ;  for  these 
had  in  view  the  reduction  of  the  human  race  to  a  tributary 
state  under  the  oppressive  despotism  of  the  oligarchy  of  a 
single  city  ;  while  our  object  is  to  guaranty  the  freedom, 
liberty,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  an  immense  continent. 
It  is  not  equalled  by  the  renown  of  the  ancient  confederacy 
of  a  handful  of  petty  oligarchies  and  narrow  kingdoms  in 
old  Greece,  because  the  space  of  territory  and  the  number  of 
souls  embraced  by  that  inefficient  alliance,  compared  with 
the  two  Americas  and  their  inhabitants,  would  bear  the  pro 
portion  of  a  mote  to  a  mountain. 

The  summary  contained  in  the  preceding  pages  has  at 
tempted  to  demonstrate  that  continental  Europe  is  identical 
in  interest  with  America,  whatever  it  may  be  in  passion ; 
that  the  interest  of  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  except  Eng 
land,  but  not  excepting  Spain,  is,  that  all  America  should  be 
at  peace  internally  and  externally,  should  push  every  branch 
of  industry  to  the  utmost,  and  thus  advance  her  agriculture, 
recollecting  that  the  term  is  not  confined  to  the  culture  of 
the  cerealia,  but  includes  plantations  of  the  aloe  and  the 
quasi  harvest  of  cochineal,  together  with  cultivation  of  the 
thousand  crops  peculiar  to  her  climates,  and  with  the  propa 
gation  of  stock  for  meat,  for  wool,  or  for  their  hides — thus  in 
a  word  to  supply  innumerable  materials,  either  raw  or  manu 
factured,  to  exchange  with  the  old  continent  for  its  produc 
tions,  and  to  supply  the  necessities  or  luxury  and  the  manu 
facturing  or  commercial  enterprise  of  its  inhabitants.  It  is 
the  interest  of  continental  Europe  that  America  should  be 
largely  commercial,  and  should  in  consequence  be  strong  at 
sea,  in  order  to  counterbalance  the  maritime  power  and  The 
all  absorbing  commerce  of  England.  This  interest  also  de 
mands  that  America  should  be  united  and  strong  at  home,  in 


144 

order  to  perpetuate  this  counterpoise  and  to  prevent  the 
disunion,  which,  by  distracting  with  wars  the  attention  of 
the  nations  of  America  from  the  means  by  which  alone  these 
objects  can  be  ensured,  would  enable  the  sea  girt  isle  to  mo 
nopolize  the  commerce  of  the  western  world,  and  to  acquire 
by  subsidies  or  by  intrigue  such  an  ascendancy  over  the 
recent  nations  as  would  tend  to  make  her  the  carrier,  the 
depository,  and  the  entrepot  of  their  commercial  riches,  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  and  such  as  would 
especially  prevent  the  formation  in  America  of  a  naval  power 
which  alone  might  restrain,  or  united  with  that  of  the  other 
governments  might  give  the  law  to,  the  domineering  cross  of 
St  George.  With  these  views  it  is  the  interest  of  continen 
tal  Europe  that  the  several  governments  and  the  civil  policy 
of  the  American  states  should  be  consolidated,  and,  each 
within  itself,  acquire  a  consistency  and  permanency,  in  order 
to  enable  them  and  the  inhabitants  to  pursue  the  course  pre 
scribed  equally  by  their  own  and  by  European  advantage. 
The  passions  and  the  prejudices  of  the  old  governments  might 
incline  them  to  wish  that  the  new  states  should  model  their 
institutions  upon  the  antique  mould;  but  the  prudence  and 
policy  of  statesmen  must  convince  them  that  it  would  be 
madness  to  sacrifice  to  such  wishes  the  other  more  essential, 
more  indispensable,  objects,  and  that  it  is  infinitely  more  ad 
vantageous  for  them  to  enable  the  new  governments  to  pur 
sue  steadily  the  designs  indicated  by  their  and  by  the  Euro 
pean  common  interest,  by  countenancing  and  contributing  to 
their  permanency,  instead  of  risking  by  distraction  the 
acquisition  of  an  English  monopoly,  and  thus  perpetuating 
her  naval  ascendancy,  her  means  of  annoyance,  of  rendering 
commercially  tributary,  and  thus  of  impoverishing,  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

The  interest  of  England,  on  the  contrary,  her  passions, 
and  her  prejudices,  must  direct  her  policy  to  keep  the  Ame 
rican  nations  separated,  weak,  and  in  a  state  of  war,  to  pre 
vent  their  acquiring  either  a  military  or  commercial  navy, 
which  might  interfere  with  the  domination  of  her  fleets,  and 

O  ' 

would  partake  with  her  the  profits  of  maritime  transporta 
tion  :  it  is  her  interest  that  they  should  be  at  war,  in  order 


145 

to  keep  up  their  demand  for  the  implements  of  destruction 
with  which  she  can  furnish  them,  to  prevent  their  having 
leisure  to  establish  manufactures  which  might  interfere  with 
the  demand  that  exists  among  them  for  her  productions,  and 
in  order  to  prevent  them  from  turning  their  attention  to  any 
thing  beyond  the  supply  of  the  precious  metals,  and  almost 
equally  precious  raw  materials  which  she  knows  so  well  how 
to  employ  in  those  manufactories  where  she  secures  the  pro 
fit  arising  from  the  manipulation  or  preparing  them  for  mar 
ket,  and  whence  issue  the  staples  which  enable  her  to  tax 
the  world.  It  is  her  interest  to  seize  and  fortify  the  great 
intermediate  points  of  commerce,  such  as  Cuba  and  the 
other  West  Indian  islands,  as  she  has  seized  Gibraltar,  Malta, 
the  Ionian  isles,  St  Helena,  and  nearly  all  the  regular  com 
mercial  stopping  places  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  in  order 
to  convert  them  into  rendezvous  for  her  fleets,  points  of  de 
posit,  and  garners  into  which  she  may  collect  the  commerce 
of  the  world.  The  interest  of  England  is  therefore  contra 
dictory  to  that  of  America  and  of  Europe  in  whatever  relates 
to  the  affairs  of  the  western  continent ;  it  is  her  interest  that 
all  its  inhabitants  should  be  mere  day  labourers  producing 
the  raw  materials  of  manufactures  and  commerce. 

The  interest  of  America  is  to  acquire  such  strength  as 
shall  enable  her  to  preserve  the  external  peace  of  every  one 
of  her  family  of  nations  ;  and  to  maintain  their  internal  tran 
quillity,  with  the  view  of  gaining  time  to  acquire  this  strength? 
in  order  to  devote  herself  to  the  establishment  of  a  commer 
cial  navy  and  of  armed  fleets,  so  that  she  may  by  the  one 
place  herself  in  a  situation  to  transport  her  productions  with 
out  being  obliged  to  concede  to  foreigners  the  profits  of  her 
carrying  trade,  and  by  the  other  may  be  competent  to  de 
fend  that  commerce  ;  it  is  her  interest  to  be  strong  and  that 
her  governments  should  not  experience  any  convulsions,  in 
order  that  they  and  her  inhabitants  should  have  an  oppor 
tunity  to  devote  themselves  to  the  perfection  of  the  agricul 
ture  and  the  arts  she  already  possesses,  and  to  devise  and 
establish  the  multitude  of  other  resources  of  wealth  and  of 
real  independence,  which  are  offered  to  her  industry  by  the 
variety  and  beneficence  of  her  climates  and  soils :  above  all. 


146 

quiet  is  necessary  to  her  in  order  to  gain  time  for  the  natural 
increase  of  her  population,  which  has  been  seriously  affect 
ed,  in  some  of  the  countries  at  least,  by  the  recent  war.  It 
is  too  evident  to  require  demonstration  that  none  of  these 
advantages  can  be  so  well  improved  in  time  of  civil  disturb 
ance  or  of  foreign  war  as  during  a  season  of  tranquillity  and 
peace.  She  has  been  already  too  long  at  war  and  vexed 
with  violent  intestine  commotions  ;  she  demands  repose. 

It  would  be  detrimental  to  America  that  any  one  European 
nation  should  engross  her  commerce,  whether  it  is  done  by 
violence  or  by  intrigue,  influence,  subsidies,  or  negociation; 
if  by  subsidies  or  by  distribution  of  money,  the  sums  so 
invested  within  her  territory  by  a  foreign  nation  must  be 
eventually  repaid  in  some  way  or  other ;  and  if  they  are  re 
paid  by  the  effect  of  commerce,  they  would  still  be  as  much 
(and  probably  more)  to  her  inconvenience,  as  if  they  were 
to  be  refunded  by  actual  payments  in  shape  of  stock,  or  of 
the  paying  off  of  such  stock  ;  because  that  kind  of  prospec 
tive  advantage  would  not  be  relied  upon  by  foreign  powers 
unless  with  a  very  clear  certainty  of  deriving  from  thence,  not 
only  the  principal  and  interest,  but  also  a  profit  which  should 
cover  the  risk  and  the  inconvenience  of  the  delay.  England 
has  for  a  very  long  time  been  in  the  habit  of  paying  subsi 
dies  or  making  loans  to  the  powers  of  the  continent,  and  has 
by  them  added  largely  to  her  public  debt ;  but  it  is  held  by 
many  clear  sighted  politicians  that  this  inconvenience  has 
been  much  more  than  counterpoised  by  the  profit  made  by 
her  merchants  and  manufacturers  upon  the  articles  sold  in 
these  countries  under  the  commercial  treaties  which  often 
accompanied  those  of  subsidy,  or  by  effect  of  the  influence 
and  prepossession  which  always,  between  nations  as  well  as 
between  individuals,  must  be  the  consequence  of  their  assu 
ming  the  relation  of  debtor  and  creditor. 

It  would  be  the  interest  of  the  American  states  to  be  quiet 
for  some  years  under  any  form  of  government ;  and  it  is 
much  more  so  under  the  forms  they  have  adopted,  which  are 
probably  as  nearly  approximative  to  republican  institutions 
as  their  previous  cdhdition,  the  nature  of  their  population, 
and  their  predominant*prejudices  or  habits,  will  admit.  This 


147 

interest  is  not  however  confined  to  the  separate  and  individ 
ual  nations  ;  it  is  the  interest  of  all  that  all  and  every  individ 
ual  nation  should  be  thus  internally  and  externally  tranquil, 
in  order  that  the  whole  continent  should  derive  from  such 
tranquillity  the  benefits  which  will  arise  from  it,  because  the 
first  interest  of  the  whole  is  that  the  continent  should  acquire 
such  a  consistency  of  strength  and  wealth  as  will  enable  the 
whole  to  make  head  against  foreign  imposition,  and  in  order 
that  the  acquisition  of  such  strength  by  each  should  produce 
an  equilibrium  between  the  several  states  which  shall  put  it 
out  of  the  power  of  any  to  predominate,  or  tyrannize  over, 
or  to  absorb  the  others — to  produce,  in  short,  a  balance  of 
power  among  the  American  states. 

But  man  is  a  belligerent,  an  ambitious,  and  a  grasping,  ani 
mal  ;  his  natural  inclinations  direct  him  to  aim  at  domination 
over  his  neighbours.  It  is  in  vain  to  talk  of  what  ought  to 
be  ;  what  has  been  will  be  again  under  similar  circumstances: 
therefore,  if  America  does  not  adopt  precautions,  if  she  does 
not  change  the  plan  and  the  circumstances  which  obtained 
in  Europe  from  remote  antiquity,  her  destinies  will  be  the 
same  as  those  of  Europe,  her  history  will  be  a  repetition 
of  that  of  Europe,  with  nothing  more  than  a  change  of 
names,  as  the  history  of  modern  Europe  is  a  repetition  of 
that  of  ancient  Asia:  one  nation  will  make  war  upon  another, 
for  which  any  visions  will  serve  for  pretexts,  but  ambition  or 
a  desire  for  war  will  be  the  real  causes ;  these  nations  will 
form  alliances  with  others,  and  they  will  massacre  one 
another  until  some  of  the  allies  get  tired  of  the  contest, 
or  until  its  great  men  are  bought  off,  or  until  the  belligerents 
are  exhausted ;  then  they  will  make  an  ephemeral  peace, 
which  will  last  only  till  they  are  refreshed  and  ready  to 
renew  a  war  between  the  same  powers,  or  perhaps  with 
new  adversaries,  or  until  leading  individuals  of  a  new  ge 
neration,  succeeding  that  which  was  at  war,  feel  disposed 
to  gain  for  themselves  the  powers  and  the  wealth  which  were 
the  portion,  in  consequence  of  war,  of  the  chiefs  of  the  ge 
neration  that  preceded  them.  Thus  in  America  will  be  ac 
ted  over  the  farces  and  the  tragedies  which  have  filled  the 
scrolls  of  history  with  traces  of  blood  and  tears. 


148 


CHAPTER  XX. 



.LL  men  agree,  even  those  who  have  profited  of  it  agree 
in  their  mature  age,  that  war  is  a  positive  evil.  How  then 
are  wars  to  be  prevented  in  America,  and  how  are  the  advan 
tages  of  tranquillity  internal  and  external  to  be  secured  to 
the  western  continent  9  These  are  to  be  secured,  and  those 
to  be  prevented,  by  guarantying  to  each  nation  its  limits 
and  its  institutions,  with  a  tribunal  of  delegates  from  each, 
which  shall  decide  without  appeal  upon  all  subjects  of  con 
troversy  between  them,  and  between  them  and  foreign  go 
vernments,  clothed  with  power,  and  having  forces  at  the 
disposal  of  the  tribunal,  adequate  to  put  down  opposition  to 
its  decrees,  if  any  should  arise  among  the  confederates,  and 
of  such  imposing  magnitude,  as  to  overwhelm  any  foreign 
assailant. 

This  was  the  design  which  Henry  the  fourth  suggested 
for  Europe ;  which  Barlow  projected,  almost  prophetically, 
for  America;  and  which  Bolivar  has  officially  proposed  to  us. 

There  is  no  cause  of  quarrel  on  account  of  such  a  confede 
ration,  for  Europe  has  set  us  the  example  of  it  in  her  Holy  Alli 
ance.  But  if  there  are  reasons  to  apprehend  foreign  hostili 
ties  or  interference  in  our  mutual  or  domestic  arrangements 
on  that  or  on  any  other  ground,  they  are  also  reasons  for  our 
establishing  a  power  which  may  enable  us  to  defy  all  danger. 
If  reason  and  prudence,  a  respect  for  the  rights  of  nations 
and  a  desire  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  world,  be  listened 
.to,  there  would  be  no  quarrel  about  it.  If  the  confederation 


149 


be  well  formed,  it  will  be  too  strong  to  quarrel  with.  As  to 
the  possibility  of  attacking  one  power  by  surprise,  and  bat 
tering  down  its  towns,  or  capturing  its  fleets  in  sight  of  its 
sovereign,  until  it  consents  to  abandon  the  confederacy,  chop^ 
ping  it  asunder  piecemeal,  playing  the  game  by  which  the 
armed  coalition  was  dissolved,  and  by  which  Denmark  lost 
her  fleet,  this  would  be  prevented  by  putting  the  forces  of 
the  confederation  at  once  into  condition  to  repel  aggression, 
and  especially  by  having  good  intelligence  of  the  movements 
of  the  maritime  powers;  indeed  the  great  distance  that  would 
have  to  be  traversed  by  a  fleet  to  attack  these  countries,  and 
the  magnitude  of  the  preparations  which  would  be  necessary, 
would  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  any  nation  to  attack  them  by 
surprise  or  before  forces  were  collected  to  meet  the  attack. 
Besides,  the  example  of  the  two  attacks  mentioned,  and 
their  consequences,  are  so  fresh  and  so  striking,  that  it  can 
not  be  supposed  any  country  would  be  mad  enough  to  suc 
cumb  to  an  attempt  to  dissever  the  confederation,  if  it  were 
formed ;  the  loss  of  a  fleet  or  of  a  town  or  two  would  be  no 
thing  compared  to  the  disadvantage  of  a  separation,  and  the 
damage  done  for  this  object  would  be  compensated  by  the 
confederation.  Any  nation,  even  haughty  England,  would 
recoil  at  the  hazard  of  sending  across  the  ocean  such  a  fleet 
as  would  be  requisite  for  the  object;  she  could  not  do  it 
without  stripping  her  dock  yards,  and  then  she  would  be 
exposed  to  the  natural  mode  of  checking  and  at  the  same 
time  punishing  her  assaults,  fire  and  steel  at  Portsmouth,  at 
Liverpool,  or  even  perhaps  at  her  boasted  London;  for  no 
thing  can  be  plainer  than  the  expediency  of  reciprocating 
the  attack  by  assailing  her  in  her  vitals — assailing  with  a 
merciless  war;  and  the  sense  of  the  world  would  justify  it, 
because  the  object  of  the  confederation  being  the  conserva 
tion  of  peace,  any  attack  upon  it,  with  a  view  towards  its 
dissolution,  would  be  a  wanton  and  profligate  inroad  upon 
the  first  principles  of  justice,  and  would  deserve  the  utmost 
severity  of  the  last  appeal  of  kings.  Upon  the  earliest  news 
therefore  of  the  sailing  of  a  fleet  from  any  country  to  attack 
the  confederation,  squadrons  would  put  to  sea  to  rendezvous 
upon  the  coasts  of  the  power  making  the  movement,  with 


150 

orders  to  carry  fire  arid  sword  into  her  harbours.  The  ap 
prehension  of  this  measure  would  oblige  the  power  to  keep 
at  home  such  large  squadrons  as  to  expose  that  which  she 
should  dispatch  across  the  ocean  to  almost  inevitable  defeat. 

But  this  argument  upon  the  safety  of  the  confederation 
from  foreign  attack,  either  with  the  view  of  dismemberment 
or  with  any  other  object,  is  only  to  shew  its  security ;  for  it 
can  hardly  be  imagined,  after  the  universal  detestation  cre 
ated  by  the  two  attacks  above  alluded  to,  that  any  nation 
would  be  so  lost  to  a  sense  of  the  common  decencies  of  civi 
lization  as  to  attempt,  upon  such  grounds,  to  disturb  the  tran 
quillity  of  a  continent  so  remote  and  so  disengaged  from  the 
affairs  of  the  old  world.  It  is  given  only  to  answer  by 
anticipation  the  objection  which  might  be  made,  that  foreign 
nations  would  attempt  to  dissolve  it,  by  shewing  that  it 
would  be  out  of  their  power  to  effect  such  a  design. 

The  rest  of  the  civilized  world  would  be  deprived,  in  Ame 
rica  at  least,  by  the  confederation,  of  the  two  principal  im 
pulses  which  have  heretofore  caused  wars:  the  desire  of 
conquest ;  and  fear  of  being  conquered  ;  that  is,  the  propen 
sity  to  seize  the  possessions  of  others,  and  the  desire  to  pre 
vent  others  from  reciprocally  exercising  the  same  propensity. 

The  first,  the  appetite  for  acquisition  by  other  nations, 
will  have  no  aliment  here,  because  the  world  knows,  by  this 
time,  that  none  of  the  American  nations  can  be  conquered. 
I  do  not  mean  that  their  armies  and  fleets  cannot  be  beaten, 
they  will  have  at  times  to  undergo  the  fortune  of  war ; 
but  no  foreign  government  can  subdue  countries  of  almost 
unlimited  extent,  with  scattered  populations,  collected  in 
masses  only  in  a  few  places  and  at  remote  intervals.  If  a 
successful  inroad  were  made  by  a  powerful  force,  it  could 
hold  in  possession  nothing  beyond  its  line  of  sentries;  the 
natural  fortresses  of  the  mountains,  lakes,  rivers,  forests,  and 
deserts,  would  afford  secure  refuge  for  the  government  of 
the  country  in  case  of  successful  invasion ;  and  even  if  the 
persons  of  the  governmental  officers  were  captured,  the  local 
or  district  authorities  would  still  be  competent  to  carry  on 
that  species  of  war  which  is  infinitely  more  formidable  to  in 
vaders  than  pitched  battles,  the  guerilla,  the  war  of  posts. 


151 

of  bush  fighting,  and  of  incessant  molestation,  consuming 
daily  the  lives  of  the  invaders,  exhausting  their  strength 
by  harassing  alarms  and  constant  watchfulness,  and  depriv 
ing  them  of  sustenance  by  intercepting  their  convoys  from 
abroad,  and  by  preventing  their  drawing  supplies  from  the 
country,  by  means  of  lines  almost  imperceptible,  at  a  distance 
from  their  adversaries,  and  intangible  by  regular  troops, 
Mere  famine  would  thus  break  down  the  invading  army,  and 
the  larger  the  army  the  more  certain  the  operation  of  this 
system,  while  a  small  force  would  be  liable  to  be  overwhelm 
ed  by  the  numbers  brought  to  bear  upon  it.  This  system  in 
fact  is  calculated  to  give  efficiency  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  and  militia  are  as  useful  in  it  as  regular  troops ; 
it  gives  fearful  odds  in  point  of  numbers,  for  it  converts  the 
whole  population  of  a  country  into  an  army  to  assail  the 
invaders. 

Conquest  is  therefore  out  of  the  question  in  America.  The 
only  mode  of  obtaining  an  ascendancy  here  by  a  foreign 
power  is  general  corruption,  and  the  excitement  of  an  in 
clination,  a  partiality,  and  an  adherence  to  the  foreigners 
among  the  great  body  of  the  people ;  a  position  whose  ab 
surdity  is  too  apparent  to  require  discussion;  for  whatever 
might  be  the  case  with  a  few  leaders,  it  can  never  be  sup 
posed  that  the  great  majority  of  a  nation  can  feel  partiality 
for  strangers,  much  less  for  those  who  invade  them  in  arms; 
nor  can  it  be  imagined  that  the  finances  of  any  nation  would 
suffice  to  the  corruption  of  the  mass  of  another  people,  par 
ticularly  of  people  richer  in  metallic  wealth  than  any  other 
in  the  world,  and  who  supply  the  materials  for  the  current 
medium  of  all  others. 

The  first  and  strongest  inducement  which  leads  the  great 
men  of  a  nation  to  desire  war,  the  inclination  for  conquest, 
is  then  obviated  as  regards  America;  and  with  it  are  oblite 
rated  its  appendant  passions,  thirst  for  glory,  desire  for  ce 
lebrity,  for  acquiring  rank  by  means  of  renown,  and  for 
accumulating  wealth  by  means  of  spoil,  appropriation  of  ter 
ritories,  or  in  shape  of  rewards  for  services :  permanent 
conquest  is  out  of  the  question,  the  commanders  of  invading 
forces  would  have  to  look  for  defeat,  starvation,  and  disgrace, 


152 

in  lieu  of  success,  honours,  and  the  spoliaopima;  they  would 
therefore  be  very  little  inclined  to  try  the  experiment  which 
in  other  countries  has  raised  the  sword  to  the  highest  ho 
nours  and  to  wealth ;  the  stimulants,  the  probabilities,  which 
impel  ambitious  men  abroad  to  trouble  the  repose  of  their 
neighbours,  are  wanting  here  ;  and  of  course  there  is  little 
probability  that  enterprises  designed  for  conquest  will  be 
undertaken  against  us. 

The  second  great  incentive  to  war  is  the  apprehension 
(or  the  pretext  of  it)  of  attempts  at  conquest  by  another 
party.  This  can  never  exist  in  Europe  with  respect  to  Ame 
rica.  The  vast  extent  of  our  territories  leaves  us  nothing  to 
desire  in  this  respect;  it  would  be  the  height  of  folly  in  any 
American  nation  to  wish  an  extension  of  her  possessions,  for 
what  each  already  owns  will  not  be  populated  for  ages,  even 
sufficiently  for  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants.  It  is  not  the 
common  people  with  whom  the  desire  of  conquest  ever  ori 
ginates;  such  an  inclination  begins  with  the  chiefs  of  the 
country,  and  is  excited  among  the  people  by  them  with  the 
greatest  difficulty.  Although  there  may  be  found  among  us 
some  leading  men  either  embarrassed  in  circumstances,  or 
who  are  not  possessed  of  domains  equal  to  their  wishes,  yet 
all  who  own  more  land  than  is  sufficient  to  their  own  perso 
nal  cultivation  must  perceive  that  their  property  can  rise  in 
value  and  in  productiveness  only  as  the  country  fills  with 
inhabitants,  and  that  if  more  territory  be  acquired  by  their 
nations  new  avenues  for  dispersing  the  population  will  be 
opened,  and  by  this  means  for  diminishing  the  value  of  their 
estates ;  wealth  has  universally  an  influence,  and  all  men  of 
wealth,  all  who  are  at  their  ease,  in  the  American  states,  must 
be  opposed  to  extending  the  territorial  possessions  of  their 
governments ;  interest  is  so  evident  in  this  particular  that  it 
may  be  relied  upon  with  certainty.  As  to  the  governments, 
they  will  have  enough  to  do  to  keep  and  to  improve  the  soil 
they  already  possess ;  it  is  much  more  likely  that  they  will 
undergo  subdivisions  than  that  they  will  attempt  to  enlarge 
the  territories  which  they  have.  If  our  people  inhabited  cold 
and  unproductive  climates,  as  did  those  barbarians  whose 
hordes  overran  all  Europe  of  old  in  search  of  warm  suns  and 


153 

prolific  lands,  if  any  thing  were  to  be  gained  by  expatria 
tion,  there  might  be  some  colour  for  apprehensions  of  large 
armed  emigrations,  although  the  spaces  to  be  traversed  on 
the  ocean  would  be  ten  times  as  large  as  those  which  were 
crossed  by  the  conquering  Normans,  and  although  the  diffi 
culty  of  finding  vessels  enough  to  carry  them  on  such  long 
voyages  would  be  almost  insuperable.  But  what  induce 
ment  could  be  presented  for  change  of  residence  to  people 
inhabiting  the  most  delicious  climates  on  earth,  whose  soils 
yield  almost  spontaneously  the  richest  productions  of  nature, 
and  whose  mountains  scarcely  conceal  in  their  entrails  the 
metals,  the  accursed  gold,  the  evil  tempting  silver,  and  jew 
els  the  gaud  of  vanity  or  pride,  which  have  been  the  objects 
of  the  covetousness  and  of  the  passions  of  mankind  since 
their  earliest  creation. 

Whatever  then  may  be  the  temptations  for  some  nations 
of  America  to  desire  to  occupy  the  territories  of  others  in 
the  same  continent,  there  never  can  be  any  inducement  for 
them  to  aim  at  foreign  conquests ;  and  upon  this  head  the 
prudence  or  foresight  of  Europe  will  render  her  perfectly 
tranquil. 

In  saying  this  however  I  must  not  be  taken  to  anticipate 
the  subject  of  Cuba,  of  which  hereafter. 

That  conquest  in  America  by  foreign  powers  cannot  be 
effected  is  very  certain  ;  but  the  question  of  conquest  of  one 
nation  by  them  in  concert  with  another  nation  of  the  same 
continent  is  a  very  different  affair.  If  the  American  states  are 
divided,  if  they  place  themselves  exactly  upon  the  footing  with 
respect  to  one  another  on  which  the  nations  are  in  other  parts 
of  the  world,  if  they  do  not  take  advantage  of  the  experience 
of  past  ages,  and  of  their  present  anomalous  situation,  and 
provide  a  method  by  which  the  contingency  of  future  disputes 
may  be  settled,  by  which  a  bond  of  mutual  interest  may  be 
wound  round  them,  and  by  which  their  sympathies  may  be 
united  into  a  sort  of  enlarged  nationality,  if  they  do  not  adopt 
measures  which  shall  constitute  them  an  exception  to  the 
general  precedent,  to  the  heretofore  universal  routine  of  na 
tional  history,  they  must  and  will  undergo  the  lot  which  has 


154 

befallen  all  other  nations,  they  must  and  will  go  through  the 
same  train  of  events  which  has  been  followed  by  all  the  na 
tions  that  have  preceded  them,  and  their  history  will  be 
nothing  more  than  a  repetition,  altering  only  names  and  dates, 
of  that  of  every  people  whose  annals  are  before  us.  While 
time  and  opportunity  invite,  nay  woo,  her  to  be  wise,  if  Amer 
ica  does  not  profit  of  the  occasion,  and  take  precautions, 
which  the  lapse  of  a  very  short  period  will  place  irrevocably 
beyond  her  control,  to  guard  against  the  occurrence  of  all 
the  events  that  have  happened  to  other  nations,  she  will 
like  them  see  her  fertile  fields  converted  into  bloody  arenas 
of  conflict,  her  towns  will  be  circumscribed  with  walls  and 
ramparts,  to  serve  for  the  concentration  of  her  strength, 
for  schools  for  the  science  of  slaughter,  and  for  the  scenes 
of  reiterated  sieges,  as  has  occurred  before,  all  over  the  earth. 
If  she  does  not  take  those  precautions,  she  will  be  exposed 
to  the  reiteration  of  past  examples  of  alliances  between  some 
of  her  governments  and  foreign,  even  ultra  marine,  powers, 
against  others  of  her  nations,  disguising  under  pretexts  of 
resentment  for  injuries  illy  concealed  designs  of  conquest 
and  partition.  In  such  cases,  the  weaker  nation  attacked  on 
its  sea  bord  from  abroad,  and  invaded  upon  its  interior  fron 
tiers  by  a  people  familiar  with  the  climate  and  skilful  as  its 
own  inhabitants  in  all  the  modes  of  attack  and  defence  pe 
culiar  to  this  continent,  accustomed  to  the  topography  of 
similar  regions,  and  identical  in  habits,  resources,  and  vi 
gour — in  such  cases  indeed  conquest  in  America  will  depend 
only  upon  the  fortune  of  war,  and  in  such  cases  American 
nations  may  be  divided,  rent  asunder,  into  fragments,  tri 
butary  to  their  neighbours  on  the  same  continent,  or  colo 
nies  again  to  European  monarchies.  Conquests  cannot  be 
effected  here  by  foreign  powers  ;  but  they  may  be  effected 
by  these  aided  by  American  allies.  They  will  fight  for  it 
no  doubt,  and  bravely,  the  clarion  of  fame  will  resound  the 
glories  of  victorious  chieftains,  and  will  fatigue  the  echoes 
of  the  world  with  the  mournful  eulogies  of  fallen  heroes  ;  but 
how  much  more  glorious,  how  much  more  splendid  to  the 
rejoicing  ear  of  civilized  and  pious  humanity,  will  be  the 

.     ;'>•:•  ':\>, 


155 

praises  of  those  pacific  triumphs  which  diffuse  happiness, 
wealth,  prosperity,  and  comfort  over  flourishing  countries, 
which  extend  the  victories  of  art  over  the  crude  materials 
lavishly  offered  by  prolific  nature,  which  clothe,  instruct, 
and  embellish  the  existence  of  whole  nations,  and  which  will 
be  the  effect  of  such  an  arrangement,  such  a  continental 
confederation,  as  shall  unite  the  two  Americas,  shall  inter 
dict  mutual  wars,  and  shall  interpose  a  tenfold  buckler 
between  the  nations  of  the  continent  and  foreign  violence. 
I  have  alluded  above  to  the  possibility  of  a  desire  being 
excited  in  some  of  the  American  nations  to  acquire  the 
territories  of  others,  or  to  add  them  to  their  own  dominions. 
That  such  will  be  the  case,  from  time  to  time,  we  must  an 
ticipate  not  only  from  the  inherent  disposition  of  mankind, 
but  also  from  every  thing  that  appears  in  the  records  of  their 
past  actions ;  no  nation  has  yet  formed  an  exception  ;  the 
Assyrians  covered  in  the  clouds  of  remote  antiquity,  the 
English,  polished  France,  the  more  than  half  civilized 
Aztec,  and  the  wild  Cherokee,  the  wide  Germanic  empire, 
and  even  Genoa,  circumscribed  within  her  narrow  limits,  all 
ages,  and  all  nations,  large  or  small,  civilized  or  barbarous, 
have  given  proofs  of  the  universality  of  the  passion  for  con 
quest,  of  the  predominance  of  this  ravenous  disposition  to 
seize  the  territories  belonging  to  others.  Shall  we  differ 
from  the  rest  of  the  human  race  ;  shall  we  alone  be  exempted 
from  the  excesses  of  this  plunderrng  mania ;  shall  we  mono 
polize  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  re 
spect  for  the  rights  of  others,  which  yet  linger  on  earth ;  and 
shall  we  alone  be  excepted  from  the  prevalence  of  the  dispo 
sition  to  incroach  upon  our  neighbours  which  has  characte 
rized  all  our  predecessors .9  A  knowledge  of  our  own  tempe 
rament,  the  records  of  past  time,  the  nature  and  the  character 
of  man,  forbid  the  most  sanguine  to  hope  for  the  realization 
of  such  Utopian  visions  :  if  we  could  thus  dream,  unfortu 
nately  there  are  too  many  and  recent  instances  militating 
against  them  even  in  the  short  history  of  the  United  States, 
where  we  have  seen  that  the  power  of  the  whole  confede 
ration  is  called  upon  sometimes  to  interpose  its  overwhelm 
ing  authority  to  prevent  one  state  from  taking  possession 


150 

of  a  paltry  island,  a  sand  bar  in  the  midst  of  the  waves* ; 
sometimes  to  settle  a  pretension  to  extensive  regions  in  the 
heart  of  a  statef  ;  sometimes  to  determine  a  frontier!  ;  and 
sometimes  to  protect  the  miserable  remnant  of  the  aboriginal 
possessors  of  the  country  against  the  impetuous  violence  of 
individuals  who  hunger  after  the  contracted  vestiges  of  their 
ancient  sovereignties^.  Happy  is  it  for  us  that  the  wisdom 
of  our  fathers  devised  a  method,  and  that  the  good  sense  of  the 
present  generation  preserves  with  a  holy  reverence  the  means, 
by  which  such  desires  are  repressed,  and  by  which  passions 
are  curbed,  without  appeal  to  the  sword  ;  the  inevitable  con- 
quence  of  them,  unless  that  wisdom,  and  that  good  sense, 
had  anticipated  such  events,  had  provided  by  the  confedera 
tion  the  security  against  conflict,  and  had  endued  the  cen 
tral  authority  with  power  and  force  to  restrain  any  encroach 
ments  upon  the  rights  or  disturbances  of  the  peace  of  the 
parties  to  the  great  compact,  and  to  maintain  the  internal 
tranquillity  of  the  whole  system.  But  if  we  see  these  things, 
these  effervescences,  take  place  in  so  well  poised  a  system  as 
ours,  we  can  not  expect  that  they  will  not  occur  among  the 
varied  and  discordant  elements  which  compose  the  nations  of 
the  two  continents,  unless  we  imitate  the  splendid  example 
of  this  confederation,  and  adopt  some  plan,  as  nearly  analo 
gous  as  circumstances  will  permit,  for  preserving  the  general 
harmony.  Without  it,  the  temptations  are  so  provoking,  the 
inducements  are  so  great,  the  spoil  so  alluring,  and  the  faci 
lities  so  inviting,  that  the  continent  will  never  enjoy  ten 
years  together  of  peace.  The  character  and  disposition  of  the 
inhabitants  of  both  Americas  are  already  quite  sufficiently 
martial ;  and  when  the  tumultuous  elements  are  roused  into 
action,  when  the  people  become  familiarized  with  war,  the 
mass  of  combustible  materials  will  be  immensely  increased, 
and  will  be  added  to  the  constantly  existing  causes  for  war.  A 
state  of  war,  above  all  wars  of  invasion  or  of  internal  defence. 


*  E.  g.  The  Pea  Patch. 

f  Luzerne  and  Lycoming  counties  in  Pennsylvania. 
J  On  the  Hudson  between  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 
<v  ilii  •     §  As  in  the  instance  of  Georgia  and  the  Creeks. 


157 

frontier  war,  are  inconsistent  with  republican  institutions;  the 
army  must  have  the  ascendancy;  in  such  wars  it  is  too  neces 
sary  to  be  otherwise  ;  the  commanders  must  have  nearly  abso 
lute  power,  and  the  army  must  be  attached  to  them,  else  they, 
and  it,  can  not  suffice  to  the  very  objects  of  their  existence  : 
the  army  and  a  large  one,  becomes  an  indispensable  portion  of 
the  government  and  of  society ;  and  with  it  are  introduced 
martial  principles  and  a  habitude  of  military  obedience.  It  is 
impossible  therefore  for  any  one  to  flatter  himself  that  a  repub 
lican  form  of  government  can  endure  in  America  in  the  midst 
of  the  continual  wars  which  must  prevail,  if  measures  are  not 
adopted  to  prevent  their  occurrence:  in  fact  we  see  and  know 
from  example  that  republics  contend  with  great  disadvan 
tage  against  military  governments,  and  as  yet  all  have  been 
overcome ;  those  in  Greece,  Rome,  and  Holland,  are  instan 
ces,  if  those  aristocratic  oligarchies  can  be  called  republics. 
The  American  nations  are  the  only  real  republics  the  world 
has  ever  seen  ;  and  if  we  wish  that  this  beautiful  model  of 
theoretical  perfection  in  government  should  last  beyond  the 
present  generation,  or  even  last  for  our  own  lives,  we  must  in 
common  prudence  take  precautions  to  prevent  the  occur 
rence  of  these  events,  and  the  fermentation  of  those  causes, 
which  have,  down  to  our  own  age,  been  the  destruction  of 
every  thing  that  bore  a  resemblance,  however  slight,  to  the 
institutions  to  which  we  are  all,  or  at  least  to  which  every 
man  here  professes  to  be,  attached. 

When  any  one  has  a  favourite  idea  which  occupies  his 
mind  with  an  absolute  conviction,  it  assumes  to  his  eyes  the 
qualities  of  an  axiom.  Such  is  to  my  mind  the  necessity  of  a 
general  confederation  among  the  American  states;  and  de 
monstration  of  this,  to  me  self  evident,  truth  seems  equivalent 
to  a  train  of  argument  to  convince  others  of  the  accuracy 
of  the  position  that  twice  two  make  four,  and  I  feel  the  same 
difficulty  in  proving  the  one  by  reasoning,  that  I  should  have 
in  demonstrating  the  certainty  of  the  other;  at  every  instant 
while  I  write,  things  to  corroborate  my  position  occur  to  me 
which  I  reject  as  too  trite,  too  common  place,  too  universally 
known,  to  be  admitted  into  a  grave  discussion ;  this  is  the 
inevitable  consequence  of  a  deep  conviction  of  the  truth  of 


158 

what  one  dwells  upon.  But  at  the  same  time  I  do  not  cease 
to  protest  that  I  am  the  last  person  in  the  world  to  deny  to 
others  the  privilege  which  I  claim  for  myself  as  an  indepen 
dent  member  of  society,  that  of  judging  for  one's  self  and  of 
frankly  expressing  an  opinion,  without  intolerance  and  with 
out  ascribing  improper  motives  to  those  who  differ  from  one 
in  opinion :  thus,  although  either  proposition,  that  two  and 
two  make  four,  or  that  a  confederation  of  the  American 
nations  is  absolutely  necessary  to  gain  and  to  secure  every 
thing  which  men  value,  strikes  me  as  equally  self  evident,  and 
equally  difficult  to  make  plainer  by  demonstration,  yet  I 
should  as  soon  pretend  to  censure  a  man  for  not  perceiving 
the  truth  of  the  one  as  of  .the  other.  However  I  must  still 
go  on  to  accumulate  arguments  for  the  confederation,  with 
all  the  disadvantage  of  a  consciousness  that  they  bear  the 
same  appearance  of  awkwardness  that  would  be  worn  by 
arguments  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  first  axiom  in  Euclid, 
for  to  my  eyes  the  truth  of  both  is  equally  manifest. 

As  the  world  stands,  commerce  is  an  indispensable  want 
of  all  nations  which  pretend  to  civilization.  Among  the  eight 
hundred  millions  of  souls  who  inhabit  the  globe,  the  human 
intellect  is  continually  in  action,  is  continually  making  dis 
coveries,  and  is  incessantly  giving  publicity  to  such  disco 
veries  either  of  inventions  for  the  first  time  made,  or  of 
improvements  upon  the  ideas,  and  inventions  of  the  past 
generations.  A  nation  without  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the 
world  would  have  no  more  to  go  upon  than  the  stock  of  in 
tellect  contained  among  its  own  inhabitants;  but  one  which 
is  in  correspondence  with  the  whole  mass  of  its  contempora 
ries,  drawing  from  them  their  varied  sources  of  information, 
brings  in  fact  to  bear  upon  its  own  concerns  the  intellect 
of  the  whole  human  race;  so  that  a  nation  of  three  millions 
of  souls  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  world  would  have  only 
three  million  minds  occupied  in  devising  expedients  for 
advancing  its  prosperity ;  but  a  nation  which  maintains 
correspondences  by  means  of  commerce  with  the  rest  of 
mankind  profits  of  the  intellect  of  eight  hundred  millions  of 
reasoning  and  intelligent  beings.  This  alone  would  be  a 
•sufficient  argument  in  favour  of  commerce.  If  a  continent 


159 

containing  sixteen  millions  of  souls  should  suffer  its  com 
merce  to  be  monopolized  by  a  nation  of  twenty  millions  of 
inhabitants,  it  would  of  course  only  have  the  benefit  of  the 
inventions  on  the  accumulated  knowledge  of  its  own  sixteen 
millions  and  of  those  twenty  millions,  making  an  aggregate 
of  the  intellect  and  information  of  thirty-six  millions,  instead 
of  eight  hundred  millions.  No  other  proof  is  necessary  of 
the  expediency  of  a  nation  or  of  a  continent  extending  its 
commercial  intercourse  so  as  to  be  participated  in  by  all  the 
countries  of  the  world ;  nor  is  it  necessary  to  add  a  treatise 
upon  the  equalization  of  trade,  the  keeping  down  prices  of 
the  importations,  and  the  enhancement  of  the  value  of  the  ex 
ports  by  means  of  the  competition  between  traders  from  dif 
ferent  countries.  I  have  heretofore  gone  so  much  at  large 
into  the  demonstration  of  the  probability  that  England  will 
monopolize,  by  means  of  her  vast  marine  and  unlimited  ma 
nufactures,  the  commerce  of  the  cidevant  Spanish  colonies, 
unless  measures  are  adopted  to  guard  against  such  an  event, 
that  it  seems  hardly  requisite  to  enlarge  upon  the  subject. 

But  it  is  necessary  to  show  the  immediate  inconvenience 
to  these  United  States  of  the  absence  of  such  precautionary 
measures,  and,  by  inference,  the  necessity  of  the  confedera 
tion  I  advocate,  which  is,  as  I  believe,  the  only  precaution 
that  the  nature  of  things  and  the  passions  of  mankind  ad 
mit. 

When  our  revolution  broke  out  the  country  was  much 
divided  in  sentiment,  a  formidable  portion  of  it  maintaining 
an  affection,  which  was  singular  enough,  for  the  mother  coun 
try  ;  to  give  one  example  only,  the  legislature  of  Pennsylva 
nia  prescribed  to  her  delegates  in  congress,  in  the  winter  of 
1775 — 6,  a  course  of  conduct  opposed  to  ideas  of  indepen 
dence  ;  and  yet  the  patriotism  of  this  great  state  was  never 
doubted.  The  propensity  towards  England  survived,  in  the 
breasts  of  many,  the  war  of  the  revolution :  at  its  close,  to 
the  astonishment  of  the  present  generation,  we  perceive  that 
the  remnant  of  colonial  prejudices  had  preserved  among  part 
of  the  inhabitants,  some  portion  of  that  extraordinary  and 
durable  antipathy  which  has  existed  for  ages  among  the 
English  race  towards  France,  even  although  without  the 


160 

support  of  the  French  our  struggle  would  probably  have 
had  a  different  termination  :  when  the  contest  ceased,  Eng 
land  was  ready,  with  her  immense  commerce  and  her  unli 
mited  resources  for  manufacturing,  to  take  advantage  of  the 
newly  opened  market;  she  did  profit  of  it  with  vigour  and 
with  the  most  tempting  inducements;  thereby  she  verified  the 
predictions  of  Dr  Price  that  North  America  independent 
would  not  cease  to  be  tributary  to  England,  but  would  yield 
her  a  more  ample  profit,  from  the  perquisites  of  commerce, 
and  a  larger  revenue,  by  means  of  the  revenue  derived  from 
the  customs  upon  that  commerce,  than  she  ever  drew  from 
the  colonies  while  they  continued  to  acknowledge  her  su 
premacy.  The  consequence  has  been,  and  is,  that  our  trade 
with  her  and  her  colonies  equals  about  the  half  of  the  whole 
of  our  commerce.  There  can  be  but  one  reason  for  this; 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  scarcely  latent  predisposition  for 
England — a  predisposition,  a  prejudice,  which  still  imports 
our  fashions,  our  tastes,  our  literature,  even  part  of  our  poli 
tics  and  political  economy,  along  with  her  dry  goods :  we 
carry  it  so  far  that  we  are  humbuged,  (if  I  may  permit  my 
self  so  coarse  an  expression)  by  the  set  speeches  in  her  par 
liament,  intended  for  publication  and  exportation,  arguing 
that  it  is  better  for  nations,  abounding  in  raw  materials  and 
abundantly  able  to  manufacture  them  for  their  own  use,  to 
import  the  manufactured  articles,  after  having  exported  the 
crude  material,  paying  for  them  when  manipulated  the  ad 
vanced  price  incident  to  their  additional  value  when  they 
have  had  applied  to  them  the  labour  of  preparation  for  use  : 
some  of  us  believe  the  dicta  of  her  chancellor  of  the  ex 
chequer  that  it  will  be  beneficial  to  other  nations  to  adopt 
a  perfect  equality  of  duties,  to  abolish  all  commercial  re 
strictions  reciprocally  with  her,  the  nation  which  owns  more 
than  twice  as  much  shipping  as  ourselves,  and  which  has  in 
operation  machinery  for  manufacturing  equivalent  to  the 
power  of  two  hundred  millions  of  human  hands :  some  of  us 
are  persuaded  by  her  secretary  for  foreign  affairs  that  it  would 
be  to  our  advantage  to  make  no  distinction  between  our  own 
vessels  carrying  cargoes  from  hence  to  her  islands,  and  bring 
ing  cargoes  directly  back,  and  her  vessels  which  bring  from 


161 

her  ports  cargoes  of  dry  goods,  purchase  with  the  proceeds 
cargoes  of  grain  costing  not  the  half  of  what  they  imported, 
carrying  this  grain  to  the  islands  and  taking  cargoes,  thence 
home,  to  renew  this  triple  voyage  and  triple  freight.  If  we, 
an  enlightened  people,  a  sensible  people,  a  reasoning  people, 
have  among  us  many  influential  persons  who  can  give  cre 
dence  to  such  stuff,  to  such  errant  charlatanerie,  and  if  we 
have  and  still  continue  to  draw  our  supplies  of  many  arti 
cles,  cloths  for  instance,  which  could  and  can  be  supplied  to 
us  of  better  quality  and  at  lower  prices  by  other  nations,  par 
ticularly  by  France — if  we  have  still  upon  us  the  scars  left 
by  our  colonial  fetters,  are  we  not  led  by  common  sense  to 
anticipate  that  attempts  will  be  made  to  captivate  the  affec 
tion  of  the  rich  regions  just  opened  to  the  commercial  en 
terprise  of  the  world,  and  are  we  not  impelled  by  every  dic 
tate  of  policy  and  of  forethought  to  endeavour  to  prevent 
the  effect  of  such  attempts  9 

The  fact  is  that  the  vestiges  of  our  colonial  servitude  are 
deeper  than  we  are  disposed  to  confess,  the  declaration  of 
independence  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding :  we  are  violent 
enough  in  declamation  about  our  independence ;  but,  as  I 
have  observed  elsewhere,  who  at  this  time  of  day  cares 
for  speeches  *?  deeds,  actions,  are  the  only  proofs ;  and  of 
the  declaimers  I  say,  "  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
If  I  am  to  be  reigned  over,  I  had  rather  it  should  be  by 
George  the  fourth  than  by  Huskisson  or  Canning :  if  I  most 
be  fettered,  let  my  limbs  be  bound,  but  for  heaven's  sake  do 
not  attempt  to  fetter  the  mind.  Let  us  put  an  end  to  this 
colonizing  of  the  intellect :  for  if  such  a  state  of  things  is  to 
continue,  what  a  farce  it  is  to  pretend  to  be  legislating  for 
ourselves.  It  is  true  that  acts  of  parliament  have  not  the  force 
of  laws,  but  articles  in  the  Quarterly  have.  We  could  hardly 
be  kept  out  of  an  alliance  when  France  and  England  went 
to  war;  indeed  we  were  like  to  massacre  one  another  to 
determine  the  question  of  alliance,  and  with  which  power; 
and  yet  we  were  only  remotely  and  contingently  interested : 
the  impulse  in  this  instance  began  abroad,  it  was  imported : 
again,  we  followed  the  cry  of  the  English  radicals  about  the 
Holy  Alliance,  having  really  little  to  do  with  it ;  or  if  some 


162 

of  the  English,  the  true  John  Bulls,  were  right,  that  alliance 
is  of  great  value  to  us,  because  it  will  infallibly  restrain  the 
outrageous  maritime  pretensions  of  Great  Britain,  and  this 
is  the  secret  of  their  virulence  against  it.  In  short,  Europe 
is  posterity  in  our  eyes — we  look  across  the  water  to  see 
the  impression  which  our  acts  are  to  produce,  and  England 
especially  sends  us  politics  with  her  pattern  cards;  sometimes 
her  ministerialists,  and  more  generally  her  opposition  party, 
dictate  to  us;  both  of  them,  with  respect  to  foreign  relations, 
English  to  the  back  bone.  This  colonial  propensity  is  pro 
bably  one  reason  why  some  of  us  are  indifferent  or  averse  to 
the  design  of  an  American  alliance ;  and  we  cannot  more 
effectually  serve  England,  we  cannot  renew  our  allegiance 
to  her  more  faithfully,  than  by  refusing  to  unite  with  the 
rest  of  our  own  continent.  In  the  name  of  our  country,  in 
the  name  of  our  national  pride,  in  name  of  the  judgment  of 
posterity,  let  us  for  once  at  least  dare  to  be  thoroughly  and 
independently  American. 

It  is  a  singular  mark  of  the  durability  of  our  colonial  ves 
tiges,  so  much  to  be  deplored,  and  which  leads  us  to  look  over 
the  sea  for  approval  or  disapprobation  of  what  we  do,  that 
the  discontinuance  of  our  embassies  of  the  first  grade  in 
South  America  has  been  seriously  spoken  of,  when  we  have 
so  deep  an  interest  in  that  quarter,  and  have  to  expect  im 
measurable  intercourse,  as  well  as  political  and  commercial 
relations  there,  while  we  do  not  even  meditate  any  change  in 
our  diplomatic  intercourse  with  the  greater  European  go 
vernments,  mere  zeros  in  politics  in  relation  to  us,  when 
compared  with  the  importance  of  South  America.  I  am 
not  in  favour  of  maintaining  any  thing  short  of  high  diplo 
macy  with  the  European  powers,  if  for  no  other  object  than 
that  of  rigid  watchfulness  ;  but  every  reason  of  sound  policy 
dictates  that  we  should  have  ministers  of  the  first  class  near 
the  new  governments  of  this  continent  :  the  object  of  con 
tributing  to  their  respectability  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  would 
be  a  sufficient  cause  for  this,  if  we  had  no  other. 

It  is  in  vain,  and  every  page  of  history  shews  it,  to  reason 
from  the  apparent  interest  alone  of  nations ;  this  has  been  said 
before,  and  I  renew  the  assertion ',  passion,  prejudice,  and 


163 

caprice  govern  men  more  than  interest ;  if  we  take  a  different 
view,  we  must  to  support  it  assume  that  the  majority  of  man 
kind  are  well  informed,  have  strong  perception  of  the  truth 
of  obscure  and  profound  topics,  and  draw  wise  conclusions. 
If  mere  interest  governed  men,  why  are  not  our  seaports 
supplied  with  bread  stuffs  from  the  Black  sea,  whence  we 
might  draw  wheat  which  would  not  cost  more  than  thirty- 
seven  cents  the  bushel  delivered  here. 

It  is  our  true  policy  then  to  attach  Hispano- America  to  us 
by  the  bonds  of  affection,  of  sympathy,  and  of  prejudice,  as 
well  as  by  interest,  in  order  to  obtain  their  custom  for  as 
large  a  portion  of  our  agricultural  and  manufactured  articles 
as  we  are  able  to  spare  or  as  may  be  adapted  to  their  con 
sumption,  and  to  secure  to  ourselves  the  advantage  of  so 
much  of  their  carrying  trade  as  they  are  not  able  to  furnish 
transportation  for  themselves.  We  may  at  this  moment 
conciliate  their  warmest  affections,  and  thus  obtain  a  prefe 
rence  in  their  demand  for  imported  articles,  while  we  secure 
also  their  preference  of  our  vessels  to  transport  their  com 
modities.  If  we  do  not  take  measures  of  this  character, 
England  will :  we  see  already  that  she  is  attempting  to  bribe 
them  high  for  the  object ;  she  has  lent  them  enormous  pub 
lic  and  private  loans,  and  she  is  spreading  wide  ramifications 
of  influence  through  their  territories,  in  shape  of  mining  asso 
ciations  and  even  colonies  ;  both  of  which  not  only  purchase 
adherence  by  the  disbursements  of  large  sums  of  money,  but 
also  perpetuate  it  by  holding  out  the  prospect  of  annual  pro 
fit  from  the  same  sources,  and  in  addition,  these  measures  cre 
ate  a  personal  influence  by  bringing  the  agents  into  immediate 
contact  with  the  body  of  the  people*.  It  is  worthy  also  of 
remark  that  whatever  propensity  for  herself  England  was 
able  to  excite  here,  was  brought  into  activity  after  the  close 
of  a  violent  war,  and  of  course  it  had  to  overcome  the  exacer 
bation  created  by  that  war.  But  England  has  no  such  feel 
ings  to  encounter  in  the  Hispano- American  states ;  she  has 


*  I  am  informed  by  a  high  authority  that  not  less  than  $16,000,000  have 
been  actually  invested,  and  paid,  by  English  companies,  in  mining  speculations  ; 
without  estimating  the  nominal  unpaid  capitals  of  those  companies. 


164 

scarcely  ever  appeared  to  them,  but  in  a  beneficiary  light ; 
before  their  revolution  they  knew  her  as  constantly  endeav 
ouring  to  break  the  rigorous  system  of  commercial  and  poli 
tical  interdiction  and  non-intercourse  enacted  by  the  mother 
country,  thus  attempting  to  supply  them  with  articles  of  lux 
ury  and  indulgence  in  spite  of  their  mistress  ;  they  knew  her 
as  the  furnisher  of  the  slaves  they  wanted,  under  the  infernal 
Assiento  contract  which  this  nation  (now  preaching  almost 
servile  war  against  all  governments  which  own  slaves,  and 
overwhelming  them  with  fanatical  abuse  on  that  account) 
seemed  to  have  principally  in  view  in  one  at  least  of  the  wars 
she  waged  against  Spain,  as  much  with  a  design,  as  is  proba 
ble  from  the  course  she  pursued,  of  taking  advantage  of  the 
facilities  the  contract  afforded  for  introducing  her  goods  and 
manufactures,  as  with  the  purpose  of  deriving  the  profit  from 
the  sale  of  the  slaves  she  supplied.  Since  the  revolution 
began  England  has  continued  to  appear  to  the  Mexicans  and 
South  Americans  with  an  agreeable  and  conciliating  aspect 
by  in  fact  permitting  her  subjects,  whatever  mere  statutory  or 
diplomatic  declarations  she  made  upon  the  subject,  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  war  by  serving  as  officers  or  even  in 
whole  regiments  or  crews,  by  selling  to  them  ships  of  war 
and  afterwards  fighting  in  them,  by  supplying  large  loans  at 
the  moment  when  the  war  turned  upon  the  point  of  money 
and  must  have  ceased  without  it,  at  last  by  continuing  to 
lend  to  the  governments  or  to  individuals,  and  by  making 
establishments  for  mining  and  other  objects  alike  beneficial 
to  the  resources  of  the  governments  and  to  the  general  pros 
perity  of  the  countries.  It  is  nothing  to  say  that  all  these 
were  not  operations  of  the  English  government,  but  of  indi 
viduals  ;  the  government  might  have  prevented  them  if  averse 
to  the  system;  they  arose  from  the  genius  and  system  of  the 
nation.  Very  likely  these  measures  were  not  the  execution 
of  a  deep  laid,  well  designed,  and  digested  scheme  by  which 
all  details  of  execution  were  specifically  laid  down  and  dif 
ferent  operations  designated  to  be  pursued  in  different  con 
tingencies  ;  such  design  would  oblige  one  to  attribute  much 
greater  talents  than  I  am  disposed  to  ascribe  to  the  ministry, 
although  I  am  far  from  denying  them  to  possess  very  con- 

W 


165 

siderable  talents.  But  there  is  one  predominant  principle  in 
English  politics  which  savours  strongly  of  the  maxim  as 
cribed  by  an  old  poet  to  a  father,  "  get  money  my  son, 
fairly  if  you  can,  but  get  money."  Thus  the  impulse,  the 
grand  object  of  the  English  nation,  is  to  introduce  her  trade 
and  to  employ  her  money,  and  her  ships,  every  where ;  the 
details  of  this  design  are  only  applications  of  the  principle 
to  the  various  conjunctures  as  they  successively  arise.  The 
loans  to  the  new  states  possibly  were  originally  begun  as 
speculations  by  individuals  upon  their  own  mere  motion  ;  but 
it  seems  difficult  to  believe  that  millions  upon  millions  should 
be  so  employed  without  a  secret  understanding  with  the  go 
vernment  ;  at  any  rate  loans  of  such  amounts,  and  enterprizes 
of  such  extent,  could  not  have  been  made  without  the  go 
vernment  being  perfectly  informed  of  their  negociation ;  and 
not  having  been  forbidden  by  the  government,  they  were 
made  with  its  connivance  at  least.  But  upon  whatever 
grounds  commenced  and  carried  on,  the  effect  is  the  same, 
the  English  nation  and  English  trade  acquire  such  an  in 
fluence  there  as  promises  to  secure,  if  not  a  monopoly,  at  least 
a  share  of  the  commerce  and  of  political  influence  much  lar 
ger  than  would  naturally  fall  to  England,  and  demanding 
vigorous  measures  on  the  part  of  other  nations  interested  to 
prevent  an  undue  and  unreasonable  ascendancy  of  that  com 
merce  and  those  politics. 

The  United  States,  however,  have  also  always  appeared  in 
positions  with  respect  to  Mexico  and  South  America,  which 
exhibited  us  in  a  favourable  light  to  the  eyes  of  the  inhabi 
tants  :  they  have  drawn  from  us  large  supplies  of  munitions 
of  war  and  of  subsistence,  very  useful  in  carrying  on  the  con 
test;  and  as  we  were  the  first  to  recognize  their-acts  of  inde 
pendence,  this  alone  would  necessarily  leave  a  favourable 
impression  upon  their  minds.  We  shewed  the  value  of  inde 
pendence,  and  demonstrated  by  our  example  the  way  to  ac 
quire  it.  They  are  not,  as  they  themselves  declare,  insensi 
ble  of  this  benefit.  They  have  imitated  our  institutions  and 
forms  of  government  as  closely  as  they  could  under  the  circum 
stances  in  which  they  were  placed,  and  as  nearly  as  the  cha 
racter  of  their  populations  admitted ;  of  the  advantages  they 


166 

have  hence  derived  they  have  also  acknowledged  their  sense. 
A  continental  sympathy,  a  similarity  of  origin,  a  common 
destiny,  seem  to  draw  all  the  nations  of  America  together 
with  bonds  of  fraternal  affection.  We  have  one  advantage 
over  England  in  never  having  inflicted  the  slightest  evil 
upon  South  America;  whereas  they  can  not  even  yet  en 
tirely  forget  the  ruthless  incursions  of  the  Buccaneers,  who 
were  chiefly  Englishmen  or  at  least  were  called  so  by  them, 
nor  the  outrages  of  those  naval  commanders  who  defaced 
the  towns  and  the  maritime  frontiers  with  fire,  and  stained 
the  pages  of  the  history  of  their  own  country  with  blood 
wantonly  shed,  and  spoils  unrelentingly  seized.  We  stand 
untarnished,  uncensured,  in  their  sight ;  we  have  never  done 
them  injury  :  nor  have  we  ever,  as  a  nation,  given  them  the 
least  cause  of  offence ;  on  the  contrary  all  our  relations  with 
them  hitherto  have  been  characterized  with  affection  and 
conciliation  ;  for  the  effusions  of  one  or  two  enthusiastic,  not 
to  say  violent,  men  on  the  floor  of  congress  cannot  be,  nor 
ought  to  be,  considered  as  any  thing  more  than  the  efferves 
cences  of  individuals  in  direct  opposition  to  the  sentiments 
of  the  whole  mass  of  the  population  of  the  United  States. 

The  Hispano- American  colonies  are  situated  with  regard 
to  their  mother  country,  differently  from  the  position  in 
which  we  found  ourselves  at  the  close  of  our  revolution,  in 
relation  to  England.  We  had  been  in  the  habit  of  using, 
and  of  course  felt  a  kind  of  necessity  for,  the  manufactures 
of  England,  who  was  the  first  manufacturing  and  commer 
cial  nation  in  the  world,  able  and  eager  to  furnish  us  with 
every  thing  that  we  could  or  would  purchase  from  her.  Spain 
on  the  contrary  is  only  a  very  secondary  manufacturer,  and 
now  can  scarcely  be  called  a  commercial  nation.  The  cot 
tons,  cloths,  iron,  and  most  other  articles  demanded  by  South 
America  must  be  furnished  by  other  nations,  and  were  most 
of  them  furnished  to  Spain  to  be  transported  at  an  advanced 
price  to  her  colonies  before  their  emancipation.  Their  wants 
are  in  future  to  be  supplied  from  those  other  nations  without 
the  interposition  of  the  mother  country,  a  change  vastly  to 
their  advantage.  They  have  not  therefore  the  same  induce 
ment  that  we  had,  for  renewing  their  old  commercial  re  la- 


167 

lions  ;  and  the  question  is  not  between  them  and  the  mother 
country,  as  in  our  case,  abundantly  capable  to  suffice  to  all 
their  demands;  but  it  is  a  competition  between  other  coun 
tries,  able  to  supply  them,  to  determine  which  shall  supply 
those  demands,  whether  for  manufactures  or  productions,  or 
for  the  transportation  of  their  equivalents  until  they  have 
vessels  enough  of  their  own  to  carry  for  themselves. 

This  question  is  mainly  between  England  and  ourselves  ; 
and  it  depends,  in  my  opinion,  almost  altogether  upon  the 
course  we  shall  adopt  with  respect  to  the  confederation.  If 
we  now  shake  them  from  us,  if  we  repel  their  affectionate 
advances,  and  thus  mortify  equally  their  national  pride  and 
their  natural  feelings,  it  appears  that  their  inevitable  course 
will  be  to  throw  their  commerce  with  all  its  golden  advan 
tages  into  the  lap  of  the  nation  which  is  wooing  their  attach 
ment  with  the  most  pointed  attentions,  and  which  is  lavish 
ing  money  and  influence  to  induce  them  to  fall  into  her  arms 
open  to  receive  them  with  the  utmost  cordiality. 

I  will  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that,  if  we  become  a  party  to 
the  confederation,  we  shall  monopolize  the  whole  commerce 
of  America;  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  in  all  points 
of  view  desirable  that  we  should  do  so;  because  then  what 
ever  improvements  those  countries  are  to  derive  from  abroad 
would  come  to  them  through  our  medium,  and  it  has  been 
before  attempted  to  be  shewn  that  it  is  best  for  nations  to  have 
intercourse  with  all  the  world,  in  order  that  they  may  import 
the  new  ideas  and  the  knowledge  which  are  furnished  by  the 
whole  human  race ;  and  for  ourselves,  for  our  own  interest, 
even  without  any  philanthropic  views,  we  must  desire  that  the 
nations  with  whom  we  have  commercial  relations  should  pro 
gress  in  the  grand  march  of  refinement  and  civilization,  should 
devise  new  cultivations,  and  create  new  productions,  so  that 
new  staples  may  be  afforded  to  be  exchanged  with  what  we 
can  supply  to  them,  so  that  they  may  have  new  wants  or  de 
sires,  and  so  that  our  commerce  with  them  may  be  extended. 
We  have  seen  that  after  newly  discovered  countries  have  been 
gleaned  of  what  precious  metals  or  valuable  products  of  the 
chase  they  have  on  hand  to  barter  for  the  beads  or  looking 
glasses  exhibited  to  their  admiration  by  the  first  commercial 


168 

enterprizes  which  reach  their  shores,  commerce  with  them 
flags,  until,  having  acquired  a  taste  for  the  products  of  foreign 
industry,  they  apply  themselves  to  raising  articles  to  exchange 
for  other  articles  of  whose  existence  they  were  ignorant 
during  their  unsophisticated  condition,  or  discover  and  bring 
to  market  woods,  dyes,  or  minerals,  previously  of  little  value 
in  their  eyes.  Thus  intercourse  with  foreigners  creates  in 
dustry,  and  new  tastes,  improves  the  condition  of  a  people, 
and  benefits  equally  themselves  and  those  with  whom  they 
have  intercourse.  The  well  known  picture  of  a  people  in 
the  rudiment  of  intercourse  with  foreigners  is  presented,  be 
cause  it  is  the  most  striking  which  can  be  given  :  but  the 
same  principle  obtains  in  all  stages  of  a  nation's  existence ;  we, 
as  well  as  the  South  Americans  and  Mexicans,  are  annually  de 
manding  for  our  consumption  articles  which  were  not  known 
to  common  use  until  recently.  Let  me  give  one  singular 
instance  which  at  first  glance  may  appear  trifling,  but  which 
is  immediately  in  point ;  Leghorn  bonnets  and  hats  were,  un 
til  within  a  few  years,  articles  of  luxury  confined  to  the  sea- 
bord  and  to  the  wealthiest ;  they  are  now  in  frequent  use  in 
the  interior  at  hundreds  of  miles  from  the  sea,  among  persons 
whose  wealth  would  not  have  formerly  permitted  them  to 
hope  for  such  a  species  of  finery ;  and  the  demand  for  them 
has  created  a  new  and  profitable  industry,  giving  bread,  and 
even  ease,  to  a  part  of  the  population  which  previously  was 
without  a  profitable  object  for  application  of  their  labour, 
but  which  now  obtains  comfortable  livelihood  by  manufac 
turing  from  native  grasses,  imitations  of  the  imported  article 
which  are  little  disparaged  by  comparison  with  it.  This 
small  item  in  the  national  industry  will  serve  to  prove  the 
position,  that  those  articles  of  foreign  luxury  which  are  in 
troduced  in  consequence  of  a  general  intercourse  with  the 
rest  of  the  world  tend  to  diffuse  a  general  spirit  of  refine 
ment,  to  create  a  demand  for  other  enjoyments,  to  awaken 
the  enterprize  and  industry  of  the  people,  to  furnish  new 
objects  of  commerce  by  that  industry,  to  improve  the  condi 
tion  and  the  manner  of  living  among  the  people  at  large,  and 
to  extend  commerce  by  creating  new  staples,  at  the  same 
time  that  the  effect  of  the  whole  system  is  highly  beneficial  to 


169 

the  habits  and  of  course  to  the  morals  of  the  country.  Upon 
these  grounds,  if  there  were  none  other,  we  ought  to  wish 
that  those  nations,  with  whom  we  expect  to  have  large  cor 
respondence,  should  not  be  contracted  to  narrow  bounds  in 
their  intercourse  with  other  regions.  Perhaps  also  we  are 
not  yet  entirely  prepared  to  supply  all  the  objects  demanded 
by  the  new  states  ;  and  if  the  present  mode  of  regulating 
commerce  continues  to  prevail,  the  countries  which  produce 
those  things  that  we  have  not  will  take  measures  to  prevent 
their  being  carried  by  us. 

I  will  not  say  therefore  that  we  can  or  ought  to  monopo 
lize  the  trade  of  the  new  states,  but  if  we  attach  them  to  us, 
mere  prejudice,  or  an  habitual  preference,  will  insure  to  us 
a  larger  share  of  their  commerce  than  is  given  to  any  other 
power.  To  go  into  a  demonstration  of  the  immense  impor 
tance  of  this  commerce  would  be  as  superfluous  a  task  as  to 
attempt  by  enumerating  the  properties  of  day  light  to  shew 
that  the  sun  is  a  source  of  benefit  to  the  world. 

Interest  alone  does  not  exclusively  influence  commerce; 
we  could  have  purchased  many  things  cheaper  from  France, 
at  the  consummation  of  our  independence,  than  from  Eng 
land,  and  yet  we  did  not.  The  first  steps  are  those  which 
influence  the  future  destinies  of  commerce.  When  corres 
pondences  are  established,  when  the  state  of  the  markets  is 
known,  where  to  send,  where  to  buy,  whom  to  address,  and 
when  the  intercourse  is  once  arranged,  it  is  difficult  for  the 
mercantile  world  to  be  brought  to  a  change ;  they  would  have 
to  alter  their  whole  system  and  to  begin  de  novo,  with  all  the 
inconvenience  of  creating  anew  every  branch  of  their  busi 
ness  ;  it  is  so  much  easier  to  go  on  in  the  old  beaten  path, 
that  it  is  pursued  by  the  generality  without  much  variety. 
Commerce  does  fluctuate  *  it  is  true;  but  a  total  change  is 
the  work  of  generations  :  how  long  was  England  engaged  in 
intrigues  and  even  violences  before  she  could  displace  the 
Dutch  from  their  commercial  ascendancy  9  In  our  case  we 
should  have  a  still  more  difficult  task,  for  we  should  be 
obliged  to  compete  with  a  people  who  are  fertile  in  expe 
dients,  attentive  to  every  thing  which  tends  to  disseminate  a 
taste  for  their  productions,  adapting  them  to  the  lightest  ca- 


170 

prices  of  those  with  whom  they  deal,  printing  upon  muslins 
fac  similes  of  our  declaration  of  independence,  and  likenes 
ses  of  those  chiefs  by  whom  their  armies  have  been  beaten, 
in  order  to  sell  them  to  us — what  expedients  have  they  not 
resorted  to*? — and  moreover  they  are  a  people  to  the  full 
as  industrious  as  ourselves.  We  should  then  find  it  almost 
impossible  to  supplant  England  if  she  acquired  a  precedence 
over  us  in  the  South  American  and  Mexican  markets  ;  and 
we  can  get  it  there  only  by  attaching  those  nations  to  us. 
Why  should  they  give  us  a  preference  without  an  induce 
ment  upon  our  part,  when  there  is  another  nation  both  able 
and  willing  to  supply  all  their  wants,  anxious  to  purchase 
their  good  will  at  almost  any  price,  and  which  will  eagerly 
enter  into  any  sort  of  alliance  with  them,  leaving  us  to  enjoy 
our  own  precious  conceit  of  magnificent  unconcern.  If  we 
get  thoroughly  established  in  those  markets  we  cannot  be  dis 
placed  without  a  long  series  of  events  certainly  not  to  be 
expected,  nor  without  the  operation  of  causes  which  can  not 
effect  a  rudimental  change  in  commercial  affairs  in  fifty  years : 
to  quote  the  Dutch  again,  all  the  intrigues  and  all  the  artil 
lery  of  England  did  not  force  them  to  give  way  to  her  ascen 
dancy  in  nearly  twice  fifty  years,  nor  until  England  herself 
put  a  Dutch  king  on  her  throne ;  yet  that  nation  at  the  period 
of  their  greatest  commerce  cannot  be  compared  with  us, 
because  they  were  merely  merchants,  carriers  of  foreign 
goods,  with  scarcely  agriculture  enough  to  feed  their  people, 
and  not  containing  the  fourth  of  the  amount  of  manufactures 
that  we  now  do.  But  if  England  gets  possession  of  the  south 
ern  market,  and  pursues  a  reasonable  course  of  conciliation, 
I  do  not  see  how  we  are  to  displace  her ;  we  cannot  under 
work  her;  for  it  is  only  in  the  produce  of  machinery  that  we 
can  equal  her,  nor  can  we  do  this  absolutely,  because  ma 
chinery  is  made  more  cheaply  in  England  than  among  us ; 
we  can  supply  the  works  with  some  raw  materials,  say  cot 
ton  and  dyes,  at  rather  less  price  than  she  has  to  pay  for 
them,  because  she  is  obliged  to  import  while  we  grow  them; 
of  course  their  freight  adds  to  their  cost,  and  this  brings 
the  cost  of  the  manufacture  nearly  upon  an  equality,  by  af 
fording  an  offset  to  the  superior  price  of  the  machinery  :  in 


171 

other  articles,  requiring  manual  labour,  she  has  the  advan 
tage  of  lower  wages  for  the  workmen,  and  in  them  we  have 
nothing  to  set  off  but  the  additional  price  they  must  bring 
to  meet  the  expense  of  more  distant  transportation.  We 
know  that  she  has  betaken  herself  to  various  arts  to  place  her 
manufactures  upon  an  equality  with  ours  where  they  have  a 
preference ;  cotton  goods  are  those  to  which  I  particularly 
allude,  which  we  have  been  able  to  afford  at  prices  a  shade 
If  ss  than  hers  of  similar  quality,  and  she  has  even  counter 
feited  the  American  manufacturer's  brands.  How  then  are 
we  to  compete  in  a  foreign  market  with  a  nation  which  we 
cannot  undersell,  after  that  nation  has  got  possession  of  the 
market,  as  well  as  of  the  dispositions  of  the  people  with 
whom  she  deals,  and  when  she  is  wide  awake  to  every  mea 
sure  which  may  make  either  for  her  interest  or  against  it*?  If 
we  could  even  undersell  her  one  or  two  per  cent,  that  ad 
vantage  would  not  be  enough  to  make  it  worth  the  while  of 
the  southern  merchants  to  alter  their  system  of  trade  and 
their  correspondences. 

We  shall  be  placed  in  a  pretty  situation,  if  England  be* 
comes  a  party  to  their  alliance,  as  she  most  likely  will,  after 
the  southern  states  have  formed  a  confederation  among 
themselves.  This  is  so  evidently  the  true  play  of  England, 
that  it  seems  an  inevitable  consequence  of  our  refusing  to  join 
in  the  alliance,  and  she  is  riot  the  nation  to  overlook  such  an 
advantage ;  it  will  ensure  to  her  almost  the  whole  commerce 
of  those  countries.  We  can  do  without  it,  may  be  said  by 
some  ;  so  we  can ;  and  we  can  do  without  houses,  and  live  as 
the  Indians  did,  in  wigwams,  but  what  is  life  worth  in  such 
a  condition  1  who  would  give  up  an  advantage  when  it  can 
be  obtained  without  degradation  9  what  reasonable  man 
will  consent  to  relinquish  the  South  American  trade,  if  it  can 
be  procured  by  any  reasonable  means  *? 

The  object  of  the  new  states  in  forming  a  confederation  is  to 
prevent  wars  among  themselves,  and  to  acquire  force  enough 
to  protect  themselves  from  foreign  violence.  They  would 
therefore  not  be  averse  to  forming  an  alliance  with  a  govern 
ment  which  would  not  interfere  with  their  domestic  arrange 
ments  and  institutions  (and  England  would  not  interfere  with 


172 

them  in  such  a  case,  out  of  mere  policy),  which  is  able  and 
willing  to  supply  them  with  all  the  articles  their  commerce  de 
mands,  from  pins  to  ships  of  the  line,  which  is  strong  enough  to 
counterbalance  alone  any  power  with  whom  they  may  be  at 
variance,  and  which,  united  with  them,  would  be  an  over 
match  for  any  two  powers  of  the  world.  Where  should  we 
be  in  such  a  contingency  *?  The  gulf  of  Mexico  girdled  with 
islands  in  possession  of  a  power  always  our  rival,  the  mouth 
of  it.occupied  by  a  strong  post  in  her  hands  or  under  her  in 
fluence,  for  it  no  longer  admits  of  a  question  that  Cuba  will 
within  a  very  short  time  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans  or 
of  England,  and  thus  the  entrances  into  the  gulf  will  be  con 
verted  into  a  new  Elsineure,  rather  larger  it  is  true  than  the 
entrance  into  the  Baltic,  but  quite  as  defensible  by  a  strong 
naval  power,  and  the  whole  of  Hispano-America  under  th£ 
influence  of  the  same  rival,  without  redemption,  Mexico  on 
one  of  our  frontiers,  a  weak  one  too,  and  the  Canadas  upon 
another.  We  should  be  hemmed  in,  our  frontiers  open,  our 
commerce  lost,  and  we  shall  be  the  gibe,  the  derision,  of  the 
world.  And  for  what  1  Because  we  choose  pertinaciously  to 
adhere  to  an  old  saw.  I  do  not  call  any  thing  that  ever  fell  from 
the  great  man  who  entered  his  caveat  against  "  entangling 
alliances,"  an  old  saw  ;  but  I  will  give  that  epithet  to  the  novel 
application  and  use  of  this  sounding  phrase.  He  never  intend 
ed  to  apply  it  to  the  present  conjuncture,  for  it  was  not,  and 
could  not  have  been,  within  the  scope  of  his  views,  when  he 
used  it ;  he  applied  it  to  the  position  of  affairs  at  the  time  he 
wrote,  when  two  belligerents  contending  for  mutual  exter 
mination  agitated  the  whole  globe,  had  involved  all  civilized 
nations  but  ourselves  in  their  contest,  and  threatened  to  sweep 
us  into  the  vortex ;  where  there  was  danger  that  foreign  in 
fluence  and  the  violent  excitement  of  parties  here  would 
precipitate  us  into  a  war,  foreign  to  our  interests,  alien  to 
our  institutions,  upon  the  side  of  one  or  other  of  those  go 
vernments  that  were  grappling  man  to  man  and  ship  to  ship 
on  every  battle  field  and  on  every  ocean.  The  dictum  was 
perfectly  correct  under  the  circumstances,  and  there  were 
no  indications  that  they  would  be  changed  during  the  lives  of 
the  present  generation  ;  but  it  is  not  applicable  to  the  ac- 


173 

tual  condition  of  America ;  nor  could  that  great  man  have 
foreseen  that  the  Spanish  colonies  would  so  soon  have  thrown 
off  their  vassalage  to  their  metropolis,  and  started,  Minerva 
like,  armed  and  mailed,  into  existence,  descending  sword  in 
hand  into  the  arena  of  nations,  to  claim  an  equal  and  emi 
nent  position  among  the  ancient  sovereignties  of  the  earth. 
He  could  not  have  conceived  that  all  Europe  would  have 
formed  an  alliance,  and  marched  the  arriere  ban  of  a  conti 
nent  upon  the  colossal  but  splendid  domination  of  one  glo 
rious  man ;  nor  that  this  alliance  should  have  survived  the 
destruction  of  his  power  ;  and  still  less  that  the  manufacturers 
of  England  should  have  ostensibly  abandoned,  at  this  ex 
act  crisis,  and  when  they  can  do  it  to  their  own  benefit 
and  to  the  detriment  of  every  one  else,  the  old  principles  of 
their  navigation  act,  and  their  system  of  commercial  restric 
tion,  attempting  by  a  series  of  astute  operations  or  intrigues 
to  bind  the  globe  in  ligaments  of  cotton  twist.  If  he  had 
foreseen  these  things,  if  he  had  anticipated  the  institution  of 
an  American  system,  and  a  grand  American  confederation, 
his  truly  American  heart  would  have  dictated  an  exception  to 
the  general  rule  he  laid  down  against  alliances ;  a  rule  he 
only  intended  to  apply  to  Europe,  and  which  never  was 
intended  to  be,  and  which  never  ought  to  have  been,  extend 
ed  to  our  own  continent;  it  might  as  well  be  pretended  that 
the  rule  applies  to  the  admission  of  new  states  into  our  con 
federation. 

I  must  confess  that  I  have  none  of  the  horror  of  alliances1, 
which  pro  hac  vice  fills  the  breasts  of  some  of  my  fellow 
citizens,  but  which  did  not  fill  them  between  the  years  '74 
and  '84,  nor  between  '93  and  1801,  nor  between  1811  and 
1815.  The  choice  of  the  allies  is  a  most  important  affair, 
and  the  repose  of  a  nation  depends  upon  its  making  a  proper 
selection ;  but  a  nation  at  war  without  allies  is  exactly  in  the 
position  of  an  individual  in  a  quarrel  without  friends;  either 
may  be  very  right,  very  brave,  very  skilful,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing,  nevertheless,  with  all  the  justice  of  the  cause  and 
ability  to  maintain  it,  he  and  it  will  be  alike  well  beaten. 
It  has  been  said  that  if  we  are  at  war  we  shall  find  no  diffi 
culty  in  getting  allies;  so  I  have  also  heard  that  a  man  who 
A. 


174 

is  right  in  his  quarrel  will  always  be  sure  6f  rinding  suppor 
ters  ;  this  is  fine  theory  for  fairy  land,  but  I  have  yet  to  see 
it  in  real  life  for  the  individual,  and  I  did  not  see  it  1813  for 
our  nation ;  besides,  if  this  argument  be  used,  the  principle 
of  refusing  alliances  is  given  up.  I  am  not  in  favour  of  alli 
ances  with  the  Ashantees,  or  with  any  other  government  with 
which  we  have  no  common  interest,  to  involve  us  in  wars 
with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do ;  what  I  contend  for  is 
the  propriety  of  an  alliance  with  nations  whose  interests  are 
interwoven  with  our  own,  and  who  will  be  dangerous 
neighbours  unless  we  are  allied  with  them. 

The  old  principle  was  promulgated  during  the  excitement 
occasioned  by  the  French  revolution,  and  by  the  intrigues 
set  on  foot  to  induce  us  to  take  sides  in  the  wars  of  that 
period,  and  intended  to  be  applied  to  that  conjuncture ;  it  is 
not  applicable  to  the  present  state  of  things,  nor  to  our  own 
continent.  As  well  might  the  arguments  in  favor  of  a  navy 
be  applied  to  the  contingency  of  an  invasion  from  Mexico; 
it  is  said  that  a  navy  is  the  most  efficient  and  safest  defence 
of  this  country — agreed,  it  is  necessary  in  all  contests  with 
European  governments ;  but  of  what  use  would  a  navy  be  if 
we  were  threatened  with  an  attack  from  Mexico  *?  Could  a 
fleet  defend  Arkansaw,  or  Missouri,  or  the  long  line  of  our 
back  settlements,  or  the  Mississippi,  or  Ohio,  or  Kentucky, 
or  Pittsburg,  or  in  short  any  part  of  the  interior*?  We  are 
vulnerable  there  by  Mexico;  the  rifle  and  the  bayonet  are 
the  defence  of  the  interior,  where  they  would  be  well  used. 
A  great  argument  against  alliances  is  that  they  would  involve 
us  in  wars,  whether  we  will  or  not :  we  refused  alliances  in 
Europe  for  twenty  years,  yet  we  were  at  last  forced  into  a 
war,  and  this  after  they  had  the  audacity  to  say  that  we 
could  not  be  kicked  into  war — many  a  brave  man  paid  the 
forfeit,  and  many  a  salvo  of  artillery,  many  a  gleaming  sabre, 
answered  that  insolent  bravado. 

But  my  object  is  to  avert  war,  by  the  American  alliance. 
We  cannot  keep  out  of  the  conflict  when  there  is  a  serious 
one  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  this  continent.  Again,  it  is  said 
we  must  avoid  war,  which  would  endanger  our  institutions, 
&c.  &.c.  Certainly  we  ought ;  and  once  more  this  is  one  great 


175 

end  of  the  American  alliance  :  but  we  cannot  keep  out  of 
wars,  until  all  men  are  converted  to  justice,  and  inspired 
with  similar  pacific  sentiments;  that  is  until  the  golden  age 
returns,  of  whose  approach  at  this  present  writing  there  are 
no  symptoms.  We  must  be  content  to  take  mankind  as  they 
are,  and  all  visionary  dreams  founded  upon  ideal  and  im 
possible  perfection  of  our  sinful  nature  must  be  abandoned 
by  those  who  love  their  country ;  we  cannot  reform  the  world, 
and  must  therefore  take  proper  precautions  to  prevent  the 
evil  passions  of  others  from  injuring  ourselves ;  it  would  un 
doubtedly  be  a  most  felicitous  state  of  world  if  the  lion  and 
the  lamb  would  lie  down  together,  but  as  long  as  lions  re 
tain  their  appetites  and  lambs  are  good  eating,  the  strong 
or  the  ambitious  will  attack  or  prey  upon  the  weak  arid 
those  who  are  likely  to  be  overcome.  I  am  not  to  defend 
the  morality  or  the  justice  of  those  propensities ;  but  such 
has  been,  such  is,  the  world,  and  whatever  nation  wilfully 
shuts  its  eyes  to  the  lights  of  experience  and  to  the  actual 
state  of  human  society,  deserves  all  the  consequences  of  its 
folly  and  imprudence.  I  am  not  discussing  the  condition 
of  angels;  I  write  for  men,  plain  men. 

Indeed  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  any  nation  can  get 
along  without  alliances  at  various  times.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
discuss  the  word  "  entangling,"  which  seems  to  be  introduced 
euphonise  gratia ;  if  it  is  not,  the  advocate  of  an  alliance 
has  only  to  say  the  particular  instance  he  recommends  is 
not  entangling;  but  I  meet  the  question  on  the  broad 
ground.  Nations  will  go  to  war,  it  is  vain  to  reason  about 
it,  as  long  as  men  are  men  they  will  fight ;  they  have  em 
ployed  themselves  in  that  delectable  amusement,  in  some 
quarter  or  other,  for  about  six  thousand  recorded  years ;  and, 
as  I  am  not  a  believer  in  the  mutability  of  our  nature,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  they  will  continue  to  diversify  their  history  by 
the  same  entertainment ;  if  they  can  find  no  other  reason 
for  it,  they  will  fight  for  the  sake  of  fighting.  When  nations 
are  at  war,  one  of  them  at  least  will  seek  to  strengthen  itself 
by  the  aid  of  some  power  not  previously  engaged  in  the  con 
test,  and  will  acquire  that  aid,  if  in  no  other  way,  by  paying 
fortunes  to  the  chief  men,  the  rulers,  of  the  nation  whose 


176 

co-operation  it  desires :  then  the  opposite  party  must  resort 
to  alliances  with  some  power  which  is  disengaged,  or  must 
be  beaten  and  overwhelmed.  If  our  late  war  with  England 
had  continued,  what  would  have  been  our  condition  without 
alliances  *?  She  had  a  much  larger  revenue  than  ourselves, 
and  an  army  as  well  as  a  fleet  manifold  more  numerous :  we 
should  unquestionably  have  fought  bravely,  but  our  sea  bord 
towns  would  have  been  destroyed,  if  not  held  in  possession 
by  her  ;  she  could  not  have  conquered  the  country,  nor  re- 
colonized  it,  because  at  the  worst  we  could  have  retreated 
to  our  mountains  ;  but  nevertheless  that  worst  would  have 
been  a  deplorable  misfortune  :  our  self  love  may  endeavour 
to  disguise  these  truths,  but  they  are  truths.  It  is,  among 
other  things,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  our  ever  being 
reduced  to  such  extremities  by  any  power,  that  I  earnestly 
advocate  the  American  confederation.  The  posture  of 
affairs,  in  the  winter  of  1814 — 15,  was  equivalent  to  an 
alliance  between  us  and  France,  it  was  nothing  short  of  a 
diversion  by  her  in  our  favour ;  and  whether  this  diversion 
was  made  in  consequence  of  a  written  agreement  between 
us  and  France,  or  in  consequence  of  a  peculiar  contingency 
abroad,  it  amounted  to  the  same  effect.  In  order  to  satisfy 
the  reader  of  the  correctness  of  what  is  advanced,  nothing 
more  is  necessary  than  to  recall  to  his  memory  the  history  of 
the  period,  for  in  politics  we  can  not  hope  to  penetrate  into 
the  conclaves  of  cabinets,  nor  to  have  accurate  details  of 
their  deliberations ;  this  is  out  of  the  question  until  all  the 
actors  upon  the  scene  are  passed  off  the  stage,  and  then  it 
is  barely  possible  that  their  secret  motives  and  their  hidden 
resolutions  may  be  developed ;  we  are  therefore  driven  to 
draw  our  inferences  from  those  facts  and  acts  which  have 
been  performed  before  our  eyes. 

When  the  offer  of  the  mediation  of  Russia  was  made,  she 
was  in  treaty  with  general  Moreau  :  was  there  any  connec 
tion  between  these  two  things'?  did  the  minister  here  wish  to 
attract  public  attention  to  an  object  of  major  interest,  so  as 
to  divert  it  from  one  which  he  had  every  reason  to  conceal1? 
did  he  wish  to  cover  his  communications  upon  this  subject 
with  the  British  forces  in  our  waters  under  the  veil  of  the 


177 

mediation  9  Men  are  alive  who  can  answer  these  questions, 
but  they  will  not :  for  myself,  I  believe  this  transaction  with 
Moreau  to  have  been  the  real  object  of  the  negociation  with 
admiral  Warren,  to  cover  which  Mr  Daschkoff  offered  the 
mediation :  at  the  same  time  I  must  do  him  and  his  govern 
ment  the  justice  to  aver  my  belief  that,  the  mediation 
being  offered,  their  conduct  in  it  was  perfectly  loyal  and 
honourable,  and  that  Russia  acted  in  it  without  connecting  it 
in  the  least  with  any  motive  which  might  have  prompted  the 
original  measure.  However,  we  acceded  to  the  proposal  of 
the  mediation  although  England  did  not,  and  sent  ministers  to 
Europe,  who  were  moved  from  place  to  place  for  more  than 
a  year,  before  they  could  open  a  congress  with  the  English 
commissioners.  Meanwhile,  Napoleon  was  overpowered  ;  his 
fall  and  the  consequent  peace  with  France  afforded  a  suffi 
cient  reason  for  the  indifference  of  England  to  peace,  and 
for  her  procrastination  of  the  negociations.  But  in  the  fall 
of  1814  she  entered  in  good  earnest  into  those  negociations, 
and  peace  was  announced  on  Christmas  day  in  Ghent :  in 
March  1815  Napoleon — the  lion — broke  his  fetters  and 
plunged  into  France ;  all  Europe  was  put  into  motion  upon 
a  tremendous  and  very  doubtful  conflict.  Here  then  is  the 
secret  cause  why  England  made  peace  in  December,  at  the 
very  time  when  she  had  equipped  a  powerful  force  which 
was  on  its  way  to  be  defeated  at  New  Orleans,  an  event  she 
certainly  did  not  expect  or  she  would  not  have  risked  the 
expedition  :  she  must  have  been  well  informed  of  the  discon 
tents  and  the  symptoms  of  an  approaching  explosion  in 
France,  which  we  now  know  (although  the  public  here  were 
not  apprised  of  it  at  the  time,  whatever  might  have  been  the 
secret  intelligence  of  our  government)  had  been  in  prepara 
tion  from  midsummer  of  1814.  She  saw  therefore  the  great 
est  probability  that  all  her  battles  on  the  continent  would 
have  to  be  fought  over  again,  and  in  common  prudence  she 
was  obliged  to  prepare  for  the  contest  by  disengaging  her 
self  of  an  active  enemy,  not  knowing  with  any  degree  of 
certainty  how  many  more  she  would  have  shortly  to  encoun 
ter.  Had  not  England  been  obliged  by  the  state  of  Europe 
to  make  peace,  what  would  have  been  our  situation  7  The 


178 

interest  of  her  manufacturers  and  her  merchants  would  hard 
ly  have  induced  it,  because  the  markets  of  all  Europe  were 
open  to  them.  We  should  have  been  compelled  to  seek  alli 
ances  wherever  we  could  have  found  them;  and  thus  the 
necessity  of  the  case  would  have  forced  us  into  an  alliance, 
if  we  could  have  formed  one,  in  spite  of  the  maxim  now  so 
perpetually  quoted;  and  moreover  the  universal  approba 
tion  of  the  people  would  have  sanctioned  such  a  departure 
from  the  rule. 

What  has  happened  may  again  occur;  and  we  may  again 
be  placed  in  a  situation  which  will  equally  require  the  abro 
gation  of  the  doctrine  to  "  avoid  entangling  alliances;"  it  was 
adapted  to  a  position  of  the  world  widely  different  from  the 
present,  and  to  the  present  it  does  not  apply.  Can  any  one 
in  his  sober  senses  believe  that  the  rule  ought  to  be  observed 
if  England  would  now  attempt  to  take  possession  of  Cuba  ? 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


T, 


HE  singular  series  of  reports  which  had  come  out  at  the 
time  of  my  writing  what  was  said  in  a  former  page  upon  the 
desire  and  the  probability  of  an  attempt  of  England  to  get 
possession  of  Cuba,  has  received  strong  confirmation  since 
that  page  was  written.  England  has  most  unexpectedly  sent 
a  strong  body  of  troops  to  Portugal,  to  protect  that  country, 
as  she  says,  against  Spain.  Now  when  did  England  ever 
engage  in  a  war  purely  on  behalf  of  another  nation*?  Was 
Portugal  in  danger  of  conquest  by  Spain  *?  Not  in  the  least ; 
Spain  has  enough  to  do  to  keep  her  own  subjects  quiet :  and 
the  immediate  declared  cause  of  the  movement,  even  of  the 
English  guards,  was  that  some  Portuguese  had  gone  into 
Spain,  and,  with  her  sanction,  had  returned  to  Portugal  with 


179 

the  project  of  opposing  the  constitution.  Did  any  civilized 
nation  ever  go  to  war  with-another  about  a  mere  affair  of 
police,  a  business  for  the  provost  marshal  at  worst,  about  a 
parcel  of  deserters !  The  refutation  of  the  pretence  for  these 
hostile  demonstrations  goes  with  it,  appears  upon  the  face  of 
the  thing,  it  is  in  itself  an  absurdity.  But  England  is  not  in 
the  habit  of  making  such  operations  without  deeper  views. 
She  will  claim  from  Spain  an  indemnity  for  the  expense  of 
the  movements,  which  she  pretends  have  been  made  on  ac 
count  of  the  hostile  intentions  towards  Portugal  that  she 
attributes  to  Spain  :  and  there  are  still  her  other  claims  upon 
Spain  to  be  settled.  Spain  has  no  money,  she  can  pay  neither 
the  one  nor  the  others  with  cash ;  and  England  will  demand 
something  else ;  either  the  cession  of  Cuba,  or  possession  of 
the  island  until  her  claims  are  defrayed  out  of  the  revenues 
— that  is,  till  the  day  of  judgment;  for  Spain  has  now  nothing 
but  Cuba  and  the  Manillas  left  to  assign  or  to  mortgage ;  and 
the  latter  would  be  a  very  incompetent  fund  to  meet  the 
amount  England  has  already  pretended  to,  without  computing 
what  she  will  ask  for  the  Portuguese  expedition. 

Report  has  succeeded  report  that  England  was  about  to 
take  possession  of  the  island.  Every  one  knows  that  a  sin 
gle  rumour  may  be  raised  to  promote  a  speculation ;  that  it 
may  be  created  by  malice,  caprice,  or  by  visionary  politi 
cians.  Isolated  rumours  are  therefore  received  by  the  pru 
dent  with  great  caution :  but  when  they  are  reiterated  in 
various  shapes,  when  they  have  universal  currency,  when 
they  bear  the  aspect  of  a  general  accordance,  when  they 
agree  with  the  evident  politics  or  interest  of  a  country,  and 
when  they  are  supported  by  manifest  demonstrations  or  facts, 
they  ought  to  be  carefully  examined  by  nations  and  govern 
ments  whose  vital  interests  are  likely  to  be  affected  by  the 
measures  they  indicate.  Long  continued  and  consistent  re 
ports  must  have  some  kind  of  foundation,  some  real  cause ; 
they  are  like  the  deep  groaning  of  the  earth  which  precedes 
and  announces  the  approaching  earthquake — like  the  hollow 
moan  of  the  winds,  the  precursor  of  the  coming  storm.  With 
respect  to  the  designs  on  Cuba,  the  rumours  have  had  every 
characteristic  which  entitles  them  to  the  gravest  considera- 


180 

tion  of  this  country  and  of  America  at  large :  they  have  not 
only  been  long  continued,  universal,  and  consistent,  but  they 
have  also  been,  and  are,  supported  by  the  palpable  inte 
rest,  the  politics,  and  the  measures  of  England.  Is  further 
proof  wanted  that  England  aims  at  interfering  with  Cuba? 
Mr  Canning  has  declared,  in  the  insolent  speech  which  has 
destroyed  his  reputation  as  a  statesman — which  contains 
expressions  equivalent  to  tweaking  the  nose  of  every  sove 
reign  of  Europe  and  of  every  chief  of  the  executive  branch 
elsewhere — in  that  tirade  he  declared  that  his  object  had 
been  from  the  moment  the  French  armies  entered  Spain,  to 
use  all  the  means  he  possessed  as  minister  of  a  great  power, 
to  effect  a  separation  between  Spain  and  her  cidevant  colo^ 
nies.  The  possession  of  this  island  will  complete  the  line 
of  circumvallation,  so  to  express  it,  the  chain  of  posts,  she 
has  been  occupied  in  tracing  and  establishing  in  the  West 
Indies.  A  simple  inspection  of  the  map  will  shew  the  value 
of  this  line  to  her,  and  its  fatal  effect  upon  us,  in  every 
point  of  view.  It  will  give  to  her  immense  marine  a  surveil 
lance  over  every  rag  of  canvas  that  is  spread  between 
Charleston  and  Trinidad,  and  over  the  whole  commerce  of 
the  Caribbean  sea  and  the  gulf  of  Mexico :  it  will  give  her 
the  master  key  to  the  gulf,  and  plant  her  sentinels  in  the 
gorge  of  the  real  Atlantic  mouths  of  the  Mississippi ;  it  will 
place  her,  the  nation  which  employs  black  troops  in  the  is 
lands,  within  arm's  length  of  the  inflammable  materials  of  our 
southern  frontiers ;  and  we  have  had  in  two  wars  sufficient 
specimens  of  her  disposition  to  avail  herself  of  any  advanta 
ges  which  may  be  afforded  by  the  nature  of  those  materials. 
If  we  are  not  put  upon  our  guard  by  the  rumours  which 
have  been  alluded  to,  we  shall  have  no  other  warning.  She 
will  negociate  for  the  cession  or  the  hypothecation  of  the 
island  in  the  recesses  of  the  Escurial,  if  it  is  conceded  to  her 
by  way  of  indemnity,  for  the  expense  of  the  Portuguese  busi 
ness  or  for  satisfaction  of  the  Spanish  debt ;  and  if  she  does 
not  acquire  it  by  treaty,  the  first  news  we  shall  receive  of  the 
overt  act  will  be  the  mooring  of  a  fleet  in  the  Havannah;  we 
shall  not  be  warned,  as  in  ordinary  cases,  by  the  activity  of 
her  dockyards  and  the  movement  of  troops  to  the  ports* 


181 

because  there  will  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for  them  given  by  the 
expedition  of  fresh  troops  to  Portugal.  If  the  report  current 
at  the  moment  I  write  this  that  five  sail  of  the  line  and  three 
frigates  are  ordered  to  the  West  Indias,  to  reinforce  her 
squadrons  already  there,  we  need  no  other  warning ;  if  this 
be  not  enough  for  us,  we  must  be  blind  indeed. 

But  if  we  had  not  these  indications  before  us,  her  whole 
history  shews  that  she  is  somewhat  given  to  anticipate  mat 
ters  a  little  in  the  business  of  treating  ;  witness  her  exploit  at 
Copenhagen,  her  very  summary  conduct  in  the  affair  of  the 
armed  coalition,  and  her  attack  upon  New  Orleans  at  the 
moment  when  she  was  in  the  act  of  concluding  a  treaty  of 
peace  ;  to  say  nothing  of  her  custom  of  sweeping  the  seas  by 
her  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  as  well  as  by  her  regular 
ships  of  war,  before  issuing  her  declarations  of  war.  When 
we  have  before  our  eyes  these  reiterated  instances  of  her 
habit  of  striking  before  crying  gare,  and  of  her  trifling  ab 
errations  from  the  received  law  of  nations,  and  when  we 
have  the  loud  voice  of  fame  ringing  precautionary  counsel 
into  our  ears,  we  shall  have  none  but  ourselves  to  blame  if 
our  supine  indifference  is  next  disturbed  by  the  intelligence 
that  the  haughty  cross  of  St  George  floats  upon  the  tropical 
winds  over  the  battlements  of  the  Moro.  And  then  ! — Why 
then  the  mischief  will  be  done — and  we  shall  growl,  and  ne- 
gociate,  and  fight  perhaps.  But  the  precious  time  will  have 
slipt  away — illabitur  irreparabile  tempus — when  we  might 
have  guarded  against  the  evil,  and  probably  prevented  the 
effusion  of  blood,  by  uniting  ourselves  with  the  rest  of  Amer 
ica,  creating  a  strength  which  could  not  be  disregarded,  and 
announcing  the  determination  of  a  continent  in  the  thunder 
of  the  concentrated  voices  of  all  the  fraternity  of  the  allied 
nations — of  thirty  millions  of  souls. 

If  there  were  no  other  reasons  for  the  confederation,  they 
are  found  in  the  necessity  to  us  that  no  strong  naval  power, 
always  jealous,  if  not  inimical  to  us,  shall  ever  possess  the 
key  to  the  vast  west  and  to  the  immeasurable  resources  of 
both  the  American  continents. 

If  we  do  not  interfere  to  prevent  the  capture  or  possession 
of  Cuba,  and  we  are  hardly  able  to  do  it  aloner  South  Ame- 
Y 


182 

rica  and  Mexico  cannot  prevent  it;  they  are  not  strong 
enough,  and  have  no  fleet:  what  ships  they  have,  united  to 
ours,  will  be  formidable ;  but  the  navies  of  either  North  or 
South  America  alone  are  not  competent  to  oppose  that  of 
Great  Britain  :  this  is  the  fact;  all  the  world  knows  it ;  and  it 
would  be  worse  than  folly  to  attempt  to  disguise  or  conceal 
it  from  ourselves  :  a  writer  must  have  a  very  low  opinion  of 
the  intelligence  of  hi&countrymen,  who  could  descend  to  the 
servile  adulation  of  attempting  to  pamper  their  self  love,  at 
the  risk  of  enervating  their  decision  upon  a  topic  pregnant 
with  the  most  important  results  :  the  writer  of  this  sheet  has 
not  such  an  opinion  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  his  feeble  pen 
shall  never  be  exerted  in  an  attempt  to  deceive  them.  We 
may  go  to  war  to  liberate  Cuba  from  the  dominion  of  a  naval 
power  whose  presence  at  the  debouche  of  the  Mexican  gulf 
in  no  wise  accords  with  our  convenience,  our  interests,  nor 
our  honour ;  but  it  is  vain  to  fancy  that  we  alone  shall  be 
able  to  wrest  it  from  that  power  whose  possession  of  the 
island  is  the  most  to  be  deprecated  by  us.  We  must  call  in 
the  aid  of  other  nations  interested,  like  ourselves,  in  the  in 
violability  of  Cuba  in  the  hands  of  its  present  owners,  or  in 
its  affixation  to  the  American  system.  Who  shall  be,  what 
ought  to  be,  that  power,  these  nations  $  1  answer  decidedly, 
the  rest  of  America. 

France  is  also  interested  in  protecting  the  island  from 
England ;  first  to  preserve  it  for  a  member  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon  ;  but  if  this  can  not  be,  then  to  sanction  its  occupa 
tion  by  the  powers  of  America,  or  its  emancipation,  and 
its  establishment  as  a  separate  nation,  when  it  must  be 
guarantied  by  some  other  powerful  governments  in  order  to 
give  it  a  security  that  its  own  strength  is  inadequate  to  af 
ford  :  France  is  interested  in  one  or  other  of  these  courses, 
because  if  England  should  get  possession  of  Cuba,  the 
commerce  of  the  island,  of  the  Caribbean  coast  of  Colombia, 
and  of  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  will  be  lost  to  the  residue  of  Eu 
rope,  and  will  be  monopolized  by  England,  and  because 
such  a  monopoly  will  tend  to  double  the  resources  and 
the  naval  power  of  a  nation  already  much  stronger  than 
is  consistent  with  the  interest  and  politics  of  continental 


183 

Europe.  The  same  reasons  must  actuate  the  other  cabinets 
of  Europe  ;  they  can  not,  in  common  prudence,  look  with 
indifference  upon  the  destiny  of  Cuba;  they  are  all  of  them 
more  or  less  concerned  in  the  present  commerce  of  the 
countries,  the  direction  of  whose  trade  depends  upon  the 
solution  of  the  pending  question  ;  and  they  can  not  but  be 
aware  that  this  trade  is  about  to  become  the  most  important 
object  of  mercantile  enterprise.  It  follows,  of  mere  politi 
cal  necessity,  that  all  continental  Europe  must  view  with 
favourable  eyes  whatever  measures  America  may  adopt  to 
preserve  Cuba  from  a  fate  which  will  be  to  the  injury  of 
them  all.  The  question  then  occurs,  whether  the  European 
powers  will  not  make  common  cause,  and  interdict  the  occu 
pation  of  the  island  to  England ;  and  whether  they  will  not 
equally  oppose  its  occupation  by  America.  As  to  the  first,  I 
do  not  think  that  Europe  will,  unless  the  impulse  is  given  else 
where,  risk  the  very  probable  excitement  of  another  general 
war ;  as  to  the  second,  my  opinion  is  that  Europeans  must  be 
sensible  that  America  can  not  desire  any  extension  of  terri 
tory  ;  they  must  know  that  we  have,  and  that  we  are  aware  we 
have,  already  territory  enough  in  all  conscience,  more  than 
we  know  what  to  do  with,  and  more  than  we  can  fill  with 
our  population,  for  many  generations  to  come  :  of  course 
attributing  to  us  only  moderate  perceptions  of  our  true  in 
terests,  they  must  conclude  it  is  not  from  any  ambitious  de 
signs  that  we  desire  to  substitute  ourselves,  I  mean  America 
at  large  not  any  particular  nation,  in  place  of  the  actual 
owner,  in  case  that  owner  is  to  lose  the  island.  They  must 
know  that  if  Spain  is  strong  enough  to  maintain  her  posses 
sion,  will  keep  it,  and  will  make  peace  with  the  late  colo 
nies,  instead  of  using  the  ports  of  Cuba  and  the  force  sta 
tioned  there  as  a  means  of  annoyance  to  them,  then  it  can 
not  be  an  object  with  America  to  deprive  her  of  it.  They 
will  know  finally  that  if  America  does  take  possession  of  the 
island,  it  will  be  the  consequence  of  dire  necessity,  an  act 
of  pure  self  defence,  in  order  to  secure  our  own  commerce 
and  safety,  and  to  afford  facilities  to  the  trade  of  the  rest  of 
the  world,  that  it  will  be  as  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  world 
at  large  as  for  our  own  advantage ;  and  hence  it  results  that 


184 

Europe  will  not  be  adverse  to  such  an  enterprise  upon  our 
part,  if  it  does  not  take  sides  with  us ;  and  that  it  will  adopt 
the  latter  measure  is  a  very  probable  supposition. 

If  these  positions  are  correct,  continental  Europe  may  be 
induced  even  to  favour  the  formation  of  an  American  con 
federation,  in  order  to  bear  directly  upon  the  immunity  of 
Cuba  from  England,  as  well  as  to  create  a  power  to  keep  her 
otherwise  in  check ;  this  suggestion  has  already  been  made. 

Should  the  vast  design  be  effected  of  connecting  the  Atlan 
tic  and  Pacific  oceans  by  means  of  a  canal  adapted  to  sea  ves 
sels,  across  the  isthmus  which  unites  the  two  Americas,  the 
importance  of  preventing  the  occupation  of  the  post  at  the 
mouth  of  the  gulf  by  one  grasping  commercial  and  naval  power 
will  be  enormously  increased.  Every  nation  on  the  surface 
of  the  globe  will  be  interested  in  keeping  free  the  access 
to  and  egress  from  this  canal,  which  will  be  the  high  way, 
not  only  for  the  commerce  of  all  the  Pacific  coasts  of  North 
and  of  South  America,  as  well  as  of  the  islands  of  that  ocean, 
but  also  for  the  trade  with  all  the  East  Indies,  China  inclu 
ded,  and  even  with  Asiatic  Kamschatchka :  the  future  extent 
of  the  value  of  this  commerce  can  only  be  pictured  by  the 
most  brilliant  imagination :  all  the  world  partakes  in  it  di 
rectly  or  indirectly  ;  and  of  course  the  whole  world  is  interes 
ted  in  keeping  its  adit  clear.  The  protection  of  the  canal 
itself,  and  of  the  commerce  which  will  pass  through  it,  is 
another  great  inducement  to  the  confederation  :  these  are 
objects  of  too  great  importance  to  be  entrusted  to  any  single 
government;  the  canal  will  become  an  extension  of  the  ocean, 
a  new  highway  of  nations ;  and  the  welfare  of  mankind  will 
demand  that  it  shall  be  a  safe,  secure,  and  peaceable  one. 
Europe  is  too  distant  to  afford  this  security,  to  guaranty  this 
peace  ;  and  no  one  of  the  American  nations  will  be  strong 
enough  in  an  age  to  protect  it.  It  must  therefore  be  confi 
ded  to  the  united  strength  of  America ;  and  without  such 
an  union,  or  such  a  safeguard,  the  greatest  improvement  of 
modern  times  will  become  comparatively  useless  to  the 
commerce  of  all  mankind,  who  are  alike  concerned  in  its  re 
sults.  The  first  and  most  indispensable  requisite  to  the  utility 
of  the  canal  is  that  Cuba  shall  not  be  in  the  hands  of  a  na- 


185 

tion  already  oppressing,  taxing,  the  earth  with  its  commerce, 
and  so  powerful  in  its  naval  force  as  to  interfere  with  the  se 
curity  of  the  rest  of  the  human  race. 

It  may  be  said  that  England  will  not  venture  to  awaken 
the  hostility  of  the  rest  of  Europe  as  well  as  of  America  by- 
seizing  Cuba.  But  she  has  risked  this  hostility  for  less  ob 
jects  :  did  she  not  keep  Malta  after  the  peace  of  Amiens  at  a 
like  risk,  and  did  she  not  persevere  in  keeping  it  when 
Europe  was  actually  roused  by  this  among  other  reasons  to 
a  general  war  against  her;  does  she  not  hold  it  at  this  hour  <? 
Is  not  her  seizure  of  the  cape  of  Good  Hope  another  exam  pie*? 
Gibraltar  another  <?  Her  late  attempt  to  establish,  and  her 
actual  enforcement  of,  the  rule  of  the  war  of  1756,  yet  ano 
ther  *?  These  during  wars  it  is  true;  but  they  were  not  less 
violent  aggressions  upon  the  rights  of  particular  nations, 
and  upon  the  commercial  convenience  of  all :  yet  she  dared 
them.  And  as  to  Cuba,  its  possession  is  vastly  more  impor 
tant  than  either  of  the  other  points  to  the  advancement  of 
those  views  which  led  her  to  seize  Gibraltar  and  the  Cape. 
She  is  bold  enough  to  attempt  the  seizure  of  Cuba  with  the 
same  views,  and  she  is  strong  enough  to  effectuate  the  at 
tempt,  if  she  is  not  prevented  by  the  presence  or  the  vicinity 
of  a  powerful  force.  I  believe  she  will  make  the  attempt  im 
mediately,  and  that  the  dispute  in  Portugal  will  serve  as  the 
pretext,  or  will  answer  for  the  cover ;  but  if  she  does  not  now 
make  it,  the  design  will  only  be  postponed  to  a  more  conve 
nient  opportunity ;  she  will  never  lose  sight  of  it,  she  will 
endeavour  sooner  or  later  to  make  herself  mistress  of  ttye 
island,  and  she  will  succeed  in  the  endeavour,  unless  the 
American  confederation  is  formed.  The  adoption  therefore 
of  a  decided  and  effectual  measure  to  guard  this  invaluable 
post  ought  not  to  be  procrastinated,  unnecessarily,  one  hour, 
and  the  guard  ought  to  be  perpetual  and  vigilant.  No  other 
than  the  confederation  will  be  adequate  to  the  object :  always 
near,  and  always  strong  enough  to  interfere  with  effect,  the 
confederation  can  and  will  protect  the  island.  If  we  trust 
to  the  intervention  of  any  European  power,  we  might  as 
well  reconcile  ourselves  at  once  to  the  extension  of  the  En 
glish  acts  of  parliament,  and  her  orders  in  council,  over  the 


186 

American  seas  ;  we  had  better  immediately  begin  to  famil 
iarize  ourselves  with  the  idea  of  her  monopoly  of  the  West 
Indias.  Europe  is  too  far  removed  from  the  scene  of  action, 
and  England  may  almost  when  she  pleases  be  in  possession 
of  the  island  which  will  give  her  that  monopoly  in  effect, 
and  which  will  render  her  mistress  of  these  seas,  before 
her  continental  neighbours  are  ready  to  contest  the  matter 
with  her.  But  an  American  confederation  is  as  it  were  upon 
the  spot  or  can  arrive  in  time  to  forestal  her.  It  is  in  vain 
to  talk  of  the  laws  of  nations ;  cannon  are  the  promulgators 
of  the  laws  of  nations,  and  power  is  the  only  law  which  ob 
tains  among  them.  Binkershook,  Grotius,  and  Vattel  are 
fine  text  books  whence  to  extract  the  data  for  able  or  long 
official  letters,  and  they  afford  materials  for  excellent  re 
crimination  ;  but  no  man  who  has  lived  through  the  last  thirty 
years  and  has  witnessed  the  proceedings  of  all  the  great 
parties  which  have  figured  in  the  history  of  the  times,  even 
if  he  do  not  turn  back  to  the  anterior  precedents,  can  place 
reliance  upon  expectations  of  the  obedience  of  nations  to 
any  law  but  that  of  present  expediency ;  much  less  can  he 
expect  England  to  abide  by  those  written  codes.  Nor  will 
England  be  deterred  by  fear  of  exciting  a  war  in  Europe  by 
a  seizure  of  Cuba,  if  she  is  ready  for  a  war;  we  have  seen 
over  and  over  again  that  she  does  not  mind  war,  and  that 
apprehension  of  it  does  not  stop  her  from  pursuing  what  she 
thinks  her  interest;  the  only  thing  that  seems  to  induce  her 
to  pause  is  the  calculation  of  the  relative  advantage  of  a 
design  compared  with  the  cost  of  a  war,  and  even  this  weighs 
but  lightly  with  her.  I  could  accumulate  instances  to  prove 
the  position,  but  they  are  familiar  to  every  one  who  is  inti 
mate  with  her  history:  does  she  not  even  at  this  instant 
hazard  a  war  of  extermination  rather  than  admit  the  vast 
majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  to  a  participation  in 
the  rights  which  she  declares  in  the  abstract  to  belong  to 
all  mankind,  and  does  she  not  refuse  that  participation  upon 
a  pretence  belonging  to  the  oldest  and  darkest  periods  of 
monkish  infatuation,  at  variance  with  the  illumination  and 
the  spirit  of  the  age  we  live  in*?  England  is  therefore  not 
to  be  trusted,  the  influence  of  the  laws  of  nations  upon  her  is 


187 

not  to  be  relied  upon,  unless  she  is  guarded  against,  unless 
they  are  guarantied  by  the  actual  presence  of  power  to  re 
strain  her  and  to  enforce  them.  Besides,  if  she  is  at  war 
with  Spain  the  mere  letter  of  the  law  of  nations  will  autho 
rize  her  to  capture  a  Spanish  colony ;  if  she  make  a  treaty 
with  Spain  the  mere  letter  of  the  law  will  sanction  her  re 
ceiving  a  cession  of  the  island ;  however  repugnant  such  a 
capture  or  such  a  cession  may  be  to  the  interests  of  the  rest 
of  the  world.  The  fact  is  that  the  spirit  of  the  law,  well 
understood,  is  the  preservation  of  the  rights,  interests,  and 
convenience  of  all  the  nations  of  the  globe :  but  when  a  na 
tion  keeps  within  the  limits  of  the  lex  scripta,  violations  of 
the  spirit  of  the  law,  acts  which  militate  against  the  conve 
nience  and  interest  of  others,  are  cause  of  war,  whose  only 
restraints  are  the  probability  of  success,  and  the  incident 
cost  of  a  war  in  blood  and  treasure.  Spain  is  exasperated 
to  the  last  degree  against  her  late  colonies,  and  if  she  finds 
that  she  can  not  keep  Cuba,  she  will  be  very  much  disposed 
to  cede  it  to  a  nation  whose  presence  there  will  be  the  most 
injurious  to  their  future  destinies.  Not  but  that  she  is  aware 
of  the  grasping  disposition  of  England,  as  is  proved  by  the 
late  memoir  of  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  if  it  be  genuine, 
or  she  will  be  made  so  by  that  paper,  if  it  has  been  fabri 
cated  in  another  country :  it  either  shews  a  spirit  of  great 
distrust,  if  it  be  truly  a  Spanish  state  paper,  or  it  appeals  so 
directly  to  the  temper,  the  prejudices,  and  the  superstition 
of  the  Spanish  people,  that  it  will  excite  that  distrust.  But 
nevertheless  it  is  very  likely  that  Spain  will  sacrifice  the 
island  to  get  rid  of  her  debt,  in  spite  of  her  feeling  towards 
England,  or  if  she  perseveres  in  opposing  the  British  pre 
tensions,  it  will  be  captured  from  her,  unless  other  powers 
interfere,  not  only  by  negociations  but  by  actual  force,  to 
prevent  such  an  event.  We  can  not  be  certain  that  the 
European  powers  will  interfere,  and  in  common  prudence 
we  must  do  so :  the  proverb  is  too  old  to  be  disputed,  that 
"  what  one  does  one's  self  is  well  and  actually  done,  but  there 
is  no  reliance  upon  the  execution  of  what  is  left  for  others 
to  do." 

It  may  be  urged  that  the  interest  of  Spain  is  so  direct  to 


188 

retain  Cuba  that  she  will  not  relinquish  it  to  any  power* 
But  I  have  more  than  once  repeated  that  I  believe  the  pas 
sions  of  men  govern  them  more  than  their  interest;  and 
hence  I  infer  that  Spain  will  be  apt  to  cede.the  island  to  the 
power  whose  possession  of  it  will  be  most  inconvenient  to 
her  late  colonies:  her  interest  will  also  not  be  silent,  be 
cause  she  owes  a  large  debt  to  England  which  she  has  no 
means  of  paying,  except  by  abandoning  to  her  an  island 
which  she  has  no  chance  of  preserving  to  herself.  It  is  in 
vain  to  disguise  this  fact;  Spain  will  not  be  allowed  by  her 
cidevant  colonies  to  preserve  Cuba.  The  ports  of  that  island 
afford  her  too  many  facilities  for  invading  or  for  otherwise 
annoying  the  new  states ;  and  although  it  would  be  more  for 
the  advantage  of  these  states  that  Spain  should  continue  her 
ownership,  than  that  any  other  of  the  greater  powers  of  Eu 
rope  should  supply  her  place,  provided  she  had  cordially 
and  frankly  acknowledged  an  independence  against  which 
she  contends  in  vain,  yet  it  is  now  too  late  to  counteract  the 
deep  impression  left  upon  the  Americans  by  her  conduct  dur 
ing  the  war,  which  has  left  a  rancorous  feeling  not  to  be 
expiated  for  a  generation,  and  which  will  lead  them  to  at 
tack  her  wherever  they  can  reach  her;  the  same  rancour 
they  know  exists  on  her  side,  and  will  induce  her  to  main 
tain  a  series  of  hostile  operations  against  them,  even  after 
making  peace,  from  a  place  that  affords  her  such  tempting 
opportunities.  The  new  states  will  therefore  take  posses 
sion  of  Cuba;  they  can  and  they  will  unless  anticipated  by 
England ;  not  from  ambitious  views  of  extending  their  pos 
sessions,  but  on  the  naked  principle  of  self  defence.  Spain 
must  be  aware  of  this,  and  will  on  that  account  be  the  less 
reluctant  to  abandon  it  to  England,  if  they  treat;  and  if  the 
present  disturbance  between  the  two  countries  continue,  as 
has  been  before  said,  England  will  capture  the  island.  It 
is  to  be  remarked  that  in  speaking  here  of  Cuba,  I  consider 
that  Porto  Rico  will  follow  its  destiny  as  being  a  mere  ap 
pendage. 

The  minister  of  internal  and  foreign  relations  of  Mexico 
thinks  that  the  large  and  expensive  expeditions  of  Spain  to 


189 

Cuba  are  proofs  of  her  having  had  recourse  to  und  the  aid 
of  foreign  assistance.  See  his  report  of  9th  January  1826. 
He  seerns  to  allude  to  France,  as  that  foreign  power;  and  it 
appears  to  me  very  possible  that  he  may  be  correct;  but  not 
in  the  inference  he  draws  of  unfriendliness  to  South  Ameri 
ca;  this  would  be  too  blinded  a  policy  to  be  adopted  by  so 
intelligent  a  government;  if  France  did  assist  Spain  informing 
these  expeditions,  it  must  have  been  with  intention  of  securing 
the  island  from  England  :  thus  the  supposition  of  the  minis 
ter  confirms  my  positions. 

Among  the  various  rumours  which  always  are  floating  in 
the  political  atmosphere  is  one  that  England  and  the  United 
States  have  since  a  considerable  time  concluded  a  secret 
treaty  stipulating  that  neither  will  take  possession  of  Cuba. 
I  do  not  believe  that  such  a  treaty  exists  :  to  be  sure,  there 
is  no  penetrating  the  fire  proofs  of  the  secretary  of  state's 
office,  but  I  cannot  conceive  that  the  executive  would  venture, 
as  parties  stand,  to  enter  into  an  understanding  of  the  sort,  or 
of  any  other  kind,  however  beneficial  to  the  country,  without 
the  advice  of  the  senate ;  it  could  not  be  a  treaty  or  an  obli 
gation  on  part  of  this  country,  without  such  consent :  and 
on  the  other  hand,  if  such  a  treaty  had  been  made,  the  public 
would  have  heard  of  it  pretty  decisively  in  some  way  or 
other  :  nor  is  any  reason  apparent  why  such  a  treaty,  or  obli 
gation,  or  understanding,  should  be  kept  secret;  for  it  would 
be  very  satisfactory  to  us  to  know  that  such  was  actually  the 
state  of  things,  and  it  would  not  be  for  the  advantage  of 
England  to  conceal  it ;  in  as  much  as  it  would  obviate  in 
Europe  many  of  the  suspicions  and  imputations  upon  the 
devouring  propensity  of  her  ambition ;  it  would  even  refute 
part  of  the  arguments  of  Don  Pedro  Inguanzo's  memoir  to 
the  king  of  Spain.  But  supposing  such  an  understanding 
did  exist,  the  precaution  of  making  sure  of  compliance  with 
stipulations  would  not  be  misplaced;  for  deviation  from 
which  there  are  such  temptations,  and  such  plausible  ex 
cuses  as  the  satisfaction  by  Spain  of  the  English  debt,  or  the 
liability  of  the  island  to  capture  as  the  colony  of  an  enemy, 
in  case  the  present  disturbances  should  degenerate  into 
decided  war. 
Z 


190 

Probably  no  condition  of  Cuba  would  be  as  well  for  the 
United  States  as  its  remaining  under  the  dominion  of  Spainj 
remaining  permanently,  not  in  such  a  predicament  as  to  keep 
us  inconstant  alarm  and  anxiety  on  the  subject.  And  if  she 
would  or  could  make  an  honest,  cordial,  peace  with  her  late 
colonies,  abandoning  sincerely  all  ideas  of  impossible  con 
quest,  or  of  disturbing  their  tranquillity  and  of  wasting  her 
own  blood  and  treasure,  whether  in  mere  revenge  for  what 
has  passed,  or  in  idle  attempts  to  regain  what  she  has  lost,  in 
fruitless  attempts  to  arrest  the  irresistible  march  of  nations 
towards  the  accomplishment  of  their  destinies,  in  contestation 
against  the  decrees  of  fate  which  have  received  the  nutus, 
and  have  been  sworn  to  by  Styx — if  she  would  or  could  be 
reconciled  to  her  offspring,  the  young  eagles  which  have 
quitted  with  adult  wings  the  parental  eyrie,  then  her  con 
tinued  possession  of  Cuba,  her  only  remaining  important 
colony,  would  be  possibly  as  advantageous  to  the  South 
American  and  Mexican  states  as  the  annexation  of  the  island 
to  the  American  system,  by  affiliating  it  to  the  great  Ameri 
can  family.  Cuba  cannot,  with  safety  to  us,  be  adopted  into 
the  government  of  either  Mexico  or  Colombia,  unless  with 
a  qualification,  which  those  nations,  or  at  least  Colombia, 
would  probably  be  averse  to  admitting,  after  their  unequi 
vocal  declarations  against  slavery.  It  would  not  do  for  us 
to  have  the  condition  changed  of  a  population  composed  of 
so  many  slaves  and  of  so  many  free  blacks  or  mulattoes, 
within  a  summer  day's  sail  of  our  southern  frontier:  as  long 
as  Spain  holds  the  island,  the  actual  condition  of  that  popu 
lation  will  not  be  changed.  Spain  will  never  under  any  cir 
cumstances  be  a  naval  power  formidable  to  America;  our 
fleets,  or  those  of  the  southern  nations,  will  always  be  either 
of  them  an  overmatch  for  hers :  but  she  will  be  sufficiently 
strong,  when  she  is  regenerated,  retaining  Cuba,  to  make 
herself  respectable,  and  to  preserve  the  island  from  foreign 
violence  as  well  as  intestine  commotion  long  enough  to  give 
time  for  the  other  nations  who  have  common  interest  in  it 
to  arrive  with  succours,  and  to  bear  a  proportionate  share  in 
preserving  the  inviolability  of  the  Mexican  gulf,  which  would, 
in  such  a  state  of  things,  be  as  much  her  interest  as  that  of 


191 

America.  If  this  posture  of  affairs  were  attainable,  it  would 
not  be  for  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  disturb  it; 
because  it  would  not  interfere  with  the  condition  of  the 
slave  holding  states,  and  because  it  is  hardly  possible  that 
under  any  other  circumstances  we  could  have  a  larger  pro 
portion  than  at  present  of  the  commerce  of  the  island,  beyond 
what  would  be  the  result  of  the  increase  of  its  population 
and  wealth. 

But  I  must  confess  that  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible 
for  the  island  to  continue  in  its  present  state,  when  the  pro 
verbial  pertinacity  of  the  Spanish  character  is  taken  into 
consideration,  together  with  the  determination  of  the  new 
states  to  drive  her  from  her  last  position  of  annoyance,  and 
with  the  interest  as  well  as  the  disposition  which  I  at  least 
attribute  to  England  upon  the  subject  of  Cuba.  I  therefore 
infer  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  problematical  or  contingent 
future  condition  of  Cuba  which  affords  the  slightest  argument 
against  the  necessity  of  the  American  confederation;  but  on 
the  contrary,  that  every  sound  political  anticipation  upon  the 
fate  of  the  island,  and  all  its  actual  as  well  as  its  probable  fu 
ture  condition,  together  with  every  branch  and  filament  of  its 
concerns  or  relations,  and  their  influence  upon  the  repose, 
the  interest,  and  the  convenience  of  America,  afford  argu 
ments,  not  to  be  refuted,  to  demonstrate  the  vital  necessity  of 
the  confederation. 


192 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


ET  it  be  permitted  to  descend  from  considerations  of 
general  and  expansive  concern  to  one  of  a  more  contracted 
and  individual  scope.  What  will  be  the  effect  upon  the 
executive  of  the  United  States  of  its  adoption  of  the  views 
here  endeavoured  to  be  sustained  9  The  objection  that  such 
consideration  is  an  intrenchment  on  the  right  of  individ 
uals  to  judge  for  themselves  upon  all  matters  of  their  own 
concern,  cannot  hold  good  in  this  country,  whatever  might 
be  the  case  in  a  monarchy  ;  here  the  administration  is  the 
organ  for  execution  of  the  people's  will;  its  acts  are  the 
deeds  of  the  people,  and  its  impulses  therefore  are  mat 
ters  of  public  concern  ;  and,  without  presuming  to  dictate, 
which  no  individual  has  a  right  to  do,  it  is  the  prerogative 
of  every  citizen  respectfully  and  decorously  to  submit  to 
those  in  authority,  and  to  his  fellow  citizens,  his  humble 
opinions  upon  the  expediency  of  measures  which  are  to  affect 
the  commonwealth. 

The  administration  has  been  censured  by  some  persons 
for  every  step  it  has  taken  in  reference  to  the  subject  pro 
posed  to  it  by  the  South  Americans  and  Mexicans.  This 
memoir  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  between  the  ins 
and  the  outs ;  it  is  intended  neither  to  support  nor  to  assail 
the  administration  ;  it  is  general  in  its  views  upon  a  ge 
neral  and  national  subject;  but  the  writer  cannot  understand 
the  propriety  or  expediency  of  setting  fire  to  one's  own  house 
in  order  to  drive  out  a  resident  one  does  not  like,  or  of  op 
posing  a  measure  of  national  interest  in  order  to  thwart  an 


19i3 

6AttC*CVFT  LISffARV 

Administration  which  one  desires  to  remove  ;  it  appears  to  him 
that  every  man's  regard  for  his  own  interest,  which  is  of 
necessity  involved  in  that  of  the  nation  at  large,  should  lead 
him  to  wish  the  government  and  the  country  to  prosper,  con 
duct  it  who  may,  or  let  whoever  will  be  at  its  head.  With 
respect  to  the  question  of  the  confederation,  if  the  people 
are  in  favour  of  the  course  advocated  by  these  pages,  the 
point  is  decided  ;  and  it  is  in  order  to  convince  the  people, 
whether  in  favour  of  the  administration  or  not,  of  the  expe 
diency  of  adopting  the  American  system,  that  I  have  hitherto 
argued.  But  now  let  a  few  remarks  be  devoted  to  its  im 
mediate  effect  upon  whose  opposition  to,  or  recommendation 
of,  the  design  must  have  considerable  operation  upon  public 
sentiment.  **WCROFT  uifffift 

The  design  of  confederating  in  grand  alliance  the  whole 
of  a  vast  continent,  is  one  of  unrivalled  magnificence,  and 
will  be  celebrated  in  history  among  the  most  distinguished 
of  recorded  events :  those  men  therefore  who  are  at  the 
head  of  a  government  and  who  co-operate  in  the  estab 
lishment  of  so  splendid  a  system,  will  have  their  names  en 
rolled  upon  the  list  of  the  benefactors  of  mankind,  to  be 
handed  down  to  an  admiring  posterity.  A  design  somewhat 
similar  to  this,  but  upon  a  more  contracted  scale,  although 
unsuccessful,  has  been  a  cause  of  panegyric,  for  two  cen 
turies,  upon  the  good  Henry  IV.  and  his  great  Sully.  Can 
any  man  be  insensible  to  the  desire  of  placing  his  name 
beside  theirs,  nay  above  them,  by  actually  executing  upon 
a  broader  basis,  the  project  which  has  illustrated  the 
names  of  Henry  and  Rosny  9  Can  any  man  be  deaf  to  the 
call  of  glory,  which  appeals  to  him  from  the  midst  of  the 
clouds  of  futurity  to  attempt  an  immortalizing  action  9  The 
future  renown,  the  glory,  and  the  present  admiration,  which 
the  executive  would  acquire  by  attempting,  and  much  more 
by  succeeding  in  the  attempt,  to  unite  all  America  in  a  confe 
deration,  are  of  themselves  sufficient  inducements,  adequate 
incentives,  to  the  undertaking.  The  fame  of  conquest  is 
common  ;  the  celebrity  of  legislation  is  partaken  by  many  ; 
the  reputation  of  constructing  monuments,  edifices,  and  im 
provements,  decorates  the  memories  of  most  great  men  ;  but 


194 

the  pacific  agglomeration  of  nine  nations,  of  thirty  millions 
of  souls — the  beneficent  conciliation  of  a  whole  continent, 
and  its  union  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  peace  and  pro 
moting  wealth  and  prosperity  among  all  its  inhabitants,  of 
repressing  among  foreigners  even  the  idea  of  disturbing  the 
tranquillity  of  its  happy  shores — the  glory  of  such  designs, 
is  unique  in  the  annals  of  the  earth,  and  will  stand  alone  to 
eternity,  for  never  again  can  the  great  families  of  the  hu 
man  race  be  placed  in  a  crisis  which  will  enable  a  similar 
splendid  undertaking  to  be  realized  :  proportionable  to  its 
singularity  and  to  its  magnitude  will  be  the  gratitude,  th« 
admiration,  of  the  world  to  the  founders  of  the  new  epoch  in 
the  history  of  mankind.  There  may  be  suggested  a  question 
of  the  present  effect  upon  the  personal  popularity  of  the 
members  of  the  administration  if  it  adopt  the  project  and 
recommend  it  to  the  nation.  The  first  answer  is,  that  what 
ever  may  be  the  present  effect,  the  admiration  of  all  men 
will  be  the  future  reward  of  such  a  course  :  the  second  is 
that  I  cannot  think  so  basely  of  any  men  who  have  been 
thought  worthy  by  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  Unn- 
ted  States  to  fill  their  highest  offices,  as  to  believe  them  ca 
pable  of  hesitating  from  so  vile  a  motive,  if  they  are  con 
vinced  of  the  expediency  and  propriety  of  the  measure  ;  and, 
thinking  as  I  do  of  the  confederation,  I  am  sure  that,  after 
the  existing  discrepancies  of  party  shall  have  sunk  into  the 
oblivion  which  is  the  fate  of  all  party  excitements,  the  good 
sense  of  the  people  will  visit  redoubled  indignation  upon  the 
heads  of  those,  who,  being  satisfied  of  the  advantage  of  the 
confederation  to  them  and  to  the  world  at  large,  should  dare 
to  palter  with  their  interests,  under  an  apprehension  of  a 
temporary  risk  of  popularity  or  of  a  loss  of  offices.  No  man 
was  ever  great  but  oy  connecting  himself  with  a  great  cause  ; 
nor  did  ever  man  obtain  renown  but  by  hazarding,  by  dar 
ing,  to  act :  the  event  of  all  actions  is  hidden  in  shadows  of 
futurity  -y  but  he  who  feared  those  shadows,  and  stood  tremb- 
Jing  upon  their  verge,  has  gone  to  his  forgotten  grave,  un 
known,  unnoticed,  to  join  the  herd  of  vulgar  spirits,  who 
have  lived,  eaten,  and  died,  after  an  existence  monotonous 
to  themselves,  and  without  note,  consequence,  or  advantage. 


195 

to  their  country.  It  may  be  that  my  impressions  with  re 
gard  to  the  confederation  are  wrong ;  but  if  they  are  wrong 
1  glory  in  the  error  of  Henry,  Sully,  and  Bolivar.  If  I  am 
right,  and  I  believe  myself  to  be  so,  I  am  certain  that  my 
countrymen,  when  they  have  had  time  to  examine  the  sub 
ject,  when  they  have  disengaged  it  from  party  excitement, 
with  which  it  has  been  attempted  to  be  united,  when  they 
have  reflected  upon  it,  will  be  almost  unanimously  in  favour 
of  the  confederation.  If  they  become  so,  and  if  the  ad 
ministration  shall  have  thrown  its  weight  into  the  scale,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  indicate  the  consequences  to  them.  I  will 
be  still  more  specific — the  confederation  is  an  object  wor 
thy  of  the  support  of  that  individual  who  year  after  year  ex 
horted  the  congress  of  the  United  States  to  recognize  the 
independence  of  Spanish  America:  if  the  cause  shall  be  es 
poused  by  him,  and  if  he  shall  succeed  in  convincing  the 
representatives  of  the  people  in  this  point  too,  it  will  have 
the  effect  of  securing  those  who  are  attached,  and  of  conci 
liating  many  who  are  opposed,  to  him,  while  the  masculine 
vigour  of  such  a  line  of  conduct  must  gain  him  the  respect 
of  all  men. 

All  that  can  be  said,  has  been  said  against  the  members 
of  the  administration,  for  what  has  been  done  in  respect  to 
this  question  ;  it  would  have  been  better  for  them  to  have 
gone  the  whole  length  ;  they  would  not  have  been  more  cen 
sured  and  they  would  have  staked  their  popularity  upon  a 
magnificent  die.  It  is  not  yet  too  late,  they  may  yet  signify 
to  the  congress  of  Tacubaya  their  desire  of  protracting  the 
definitive  determination  upon  the  subject  until  a  positive 
decision  is  had  on  it  by  the  next  congress ;  and  the  South 
Americans  will  wait  for  it. 

In  thus  treating  on  the  probable  effect  upon  the  existing 
administration,  of  adopting  the  system  proposed,  the  writer 
is  not  taking  side  either  for  it  or  against  it ;  the  union  of  this 
nation  with  the  rest  of  America  is  what  he  has  in  view,  and 
to  support  this  measure  his  humble  exertions  are  devoted, 
be  the  negociations  conducted  by  whom  they  may :  it  is  a 
national  cause,  and  he  cannot  confound  it  with  party,  nor 
with  preference  by  any  part  of  the  community  of  individuals 
for  office  :  he  holds  the  maxim  of  the  gallant  Decatur,  "  our 


196 

country?  right  or  wrong,  still  our  country;"  but  he  holds  no 
less  steadfastly  another,  "our  country,  rule  who  may,  still  our 
country." 

1 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

IWi:l  mwii*  fem/iftn  IB  ,HIM*  OK  ra$i*f»b  A  1o 

-•miJi;f!  9  oVOfc 

1-  >fc        v1i"-'rt'»'  }oH( 

T  has  been  attempted  to  sketch  with  a  flowing  outline  so 
much  of  the  politics  of  Europe  as  appear  to  the  writer  to 
be  connected  with,  or  to  bear  upon,  the  discussion  of  the 
grand  subject  of  this  memoir.  It  has  been  essayed  to  deli 
neate  in  a  rapid  portraiture  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
Mexican  and  South  American  politics,  statistics,  and  actual 
situation,  in  order  to  prove  thatthe  new  nations  are  in  a  con 
dition  to  form  a  durable  ami  formidable  alliance  among 
themselves,  with  us,  or  with  whom  they  please;  that  their 
governments  are  sufficiently  established,  and  characterized 
with  the  attributes  of  permanency,  for  that  or  any  other  pur 
pose;  that  their  peculiar  situation  and  relations  in  respect  to 
one  another,  to  us,  and  to  the  world,  and  above  all  that  the  pe 
culiar  nature  of  their  populations,  require  the  establishment 
of  a  confederation  upon  the  system  proposed,  for  the  sake  of 
their  own  tranquillity,  welfare,  and  interest,  for  those  of  the 
United  States,  and  for  those  of  all  civilization.  It  has  been 
attempted  to  be  shewn  that  the  position  of  the  West  Indian 
islands,  especially  Cuba,  with  respect  to  us,  to  the  rest  of 
America,  and  to  Europe,  demand  of  this  continent  the  mea 
sure  here  advocated.  It  has  been  attempted  to  demonstrate 
to  America  and  to  Europe  that  the  policy,  the  ravenous 
commercial  spirit,  the  ambition,  and  the  character  of  Eng 
land,  tend  to  renew,  in  our  days,  and  in  her  domination,  the 
decree  which  went  forth  from  Ca3sar  that  all  the  world 
should  be  taxed ;  and  therefore  that  a  grand  confederation 


197 

ef  America  is  necessary  to  repel  that  nation  within  the 
bounds  prescribed  alike  by  the  safety,  the  prosperity,  and 
the  interest,  of  these  United  States,  of  the  other  American 
nations,  and  of  the  world.  The  arguments  are  addressed 
equally  to  the  United  States  and  South  America  and  Mexico. 

The  consideration  of  the  English  policy  has  occupied  a 
large  portion  of  the  preceding  pages ;  this  has  been  occa 
sioned  by  my  impression  of  the  dangerous  tendency  of  the 
plans  she  is,  and  has  long  been,  pursuing,  and  by  my  belief  that 
her  system  savours,  more  than  any  previously  formed  project, 
of  a  design,  an  aim,  at  universal  empire,  a  predominating 
sovereignty  of  the  most  offensive  nature — the  sovereignty  of 
her  shops— a  cotton  kingdom.  The  subject  has  been  dwelt 
upon  because  I  conceive  that  England  is  the  power  chiefly 
to  be  guarded  against,  and  that  her  plans  are  the  most  dele 
terious  to  the  welfare  of  America,  the  most  dangerous  to  our 
institutions,  and  most  calculated  to  disturb  the  repose  of  a 
population  unfortunately  composed  of  different  races,  one  of 
which  occupies  a  situation  in  society  that  she  does  not  hesi 
tate  to  attempt  changing. 

It  has  been  finally  attempted  to  be  shewn  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  and  their  public  servants,  are  called 
upon  by  every  motive  of  policy  to  unite  with  the  rest  of 
America  in  forming  a  general  alliance  and  confederacy,  to 
preserve  peace  and  harmony  among  themselves,  to  avert  the 
possibility  of  foreign  wars,  to  insure  the  prevalence  of  our 
political  institutions,  to  secure  domestic  tranquillity,  to  bind 
the  continent  together  in  the  bonds  of  fraternal  affection,  to 
concentrate  among  themselves  the  advantages  and  profits  of 
their  rich  and  unbounded  commerce,  and  last  in  the  enume 
ration,  but  first  in  all  generous  hearts,  for  the  GLORY  OF 
AMERICA. 


• 


2  A 


198 

'CO* 

i'»:.'  '    '  ft  9fU 

«*  ^          .    MI  •  ,i  9<f 

•mi --v          ->.•»•*}.<  .&  ;  »u  ^d 

:v.;  liO      *    • 

*»»  >  LiflNKKfOfr.;  '  J »  -  . ! i !  O* 

- 


.HE 


details  of  a  treaty  of  confederation  do  not  belong 
to  the  plan  of  this  memoir;  the  establishment  of  the  principle 
is  what  it  has  in  view.  But  the  general  outline  should  be, 
A  strict  alliance,  guarantying  to  each  party  the  integrity  of 
its  possessions ;  A  central  congress,  which  is  to  determine 
disputes  which  may  arise  between  any  of  the  parties,  or  be 
tween  them  and  foreign  governments;  A  prohibition  of  war 
between  any  of  the  parties,  and  between  any  individual 
party  and  a  foreign  government ;  War  if  necessary  to  be  waged 
by  the  confederation,  which  alone  is  to  have  power  to  make 
peace ;  Contingents  of  land  and  sea  forces  and  funds  of  trea 
sure  to  be  supplied  by  the  parties,  and  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  confederation,  powerful  enough  to  enforce  compliance 
with  the  general  will ;  Among  the  powers  of  the  congress  of 
the  confederation  to  be  the  authority  for  digesting  a  CODE  of 
national  law;  The  functions  of  the  confederation  to  be  limited 
to  the  authority  conceded  to  it,  not  to  extend  to  the  domes 
tic  or  interior  government  of  the  several  parties,  its  object 
being  only  to  preserve  peace  within  and  between  the  states, 
and  with  foreign  nations,  by  bringing  the  whole  power  of  the 
continent  to  bear  upon  those  who  attempt  its  interruption. 

For  such  a  plan  of  confederation,  for  any  general  confed 
eration,  the  present  is  the  only  opportunity  we  shall  ever 
have :  there  are  now  no  antipathies  between  the  American 
nations,  no  enmities*  ;  these  will  speedily  arise  if  we  are  not 



*  Except  between  Brazil  and  Buenos  Ayres. 


199 

in  alliance,  and  then  confederation  is  impossible ;  alliances 
may  be  made,  but  they  will  be  made  here  as  they  are  all  over 
the  world — to  be  broken.  If  such  a  treaty  of  confederation 
be  not  now  in  agitation  at  Tacubaya,  it  ought  to  be  proposed 
by  us ;  and  if  the  sanction  of  congress  be  wanted  for  so 
decisive  and  distinguished  a  design,  it  ought  to  be  suggested 
to  the  congress  of  Tacubaya  that  it  will  be  proposed  next 
winter,  and  no  doubt  the  result  of  the  deliberations  of  our 
legislature  will  be  readily  and  eagerly  awaited. 


t»d  biuor!?  91  —  -  — 
lo  vmg^Jfli  tuit  '(muj  rio: 
oaifoididb  ai  *i 

-od  v 

I  bin}*!} 
HAVE  done.  The  sentiments  expressed  in  these  pages 
are  illy  written:  I  can  not  help  it  :  the  subject  is  too  magni 
ficent,  too  engrossing,  to  permit  the  choice  of  words  or  the 
parsing  of  sentences  while  the  mind  is  enveloped  in  such  a 
theme,  a  theme  pregnant  with  the  destiny  of  nations,  with 
the  fate  of  the  world.  The  pen  which  has  been  used  is  an 
iron  one,  I  know,  but  T  have  neither  time  nor  patience  for 
phraseology,  nor  do  the  topics  treated  of  allow,  condescend 
to,  measured  and  melodious  periods. 

"  I  too  am  a  Roman  citizen,"  and,  as  a  free  and  equal  par 
ticipator  in  the  privileges  and  immunities  guarantied  by  the 
laws  and  the  constitution,  I  have,  equally  with  every  other 
citizen,  an  absolute  and  indefeasible  right  to  promulgate  opi 
nions  upon  all  subjects  of  political  import.  I  blame  none 
for  disagreeing  with  me,  and  I  claim  an  equal  indulgence. 
My  hopes  and  my  prospects  depend  on  the  welfare  of  our 
country,  and  are  inseparably  involved  with  those  of  my  fel 
low  citizens,  not  one  of  them  would  be  more  deeply  affected 
in  feeling  by  her  reverses. 


200 

I  have  felt  an  irresistible  impulse  to  raise  my  feeble 
voice,  and  to  declare  my  individual  vote,  with  the  reasons 
which  convince  me  of  its  correctness,  in  support  of  a  mea 
sure  for  which  our  major  interests  appear  to  me  to  cry  aloud. 
It  is  in  the  execution  of  the  task  that  I  have  failed  to  satisfy 
myself. 

Political  dogmas  have  been  opposed,  and  personal  pre 
judices  have  been  encountered,  directly,  unequivocally  ;  not 
ignorant  that  I  did  so,  nor  unaware  of  the  consequences  in 
this  country  in  case  of  failure  in  producing  conviction ;  but 
they  have  been  encountered  under  a  grave  impression  of  the 
tremendous  consequences  which  await  us  and  our  future  ge 
nerations  upon  the  determination  of  the  grand  crisis  now  in 
action — those  prejudices  have  been  encountered,  and  those 
consequences  to  myself  and  to  my  interests  have  been  risked, 
and  if  it  please  God,  I  will  encounter  and  risk  them  upon 
this  and  upon  every  occasion,  when  I  conceive  the  welfare, 
the  honour,  the  interest,  or  the  prosperity  of  my  country  at 
stake.  To  determine  the  question  rests  with  the  PEOPLE  at 
large,  and  to  them  I  appeal — I  put  myself  upon  the  country. 


THE  END. 


JAMES  KAY,  JUN.  PRINTER. 


